Bali

I am coming to the end of my trip now and a little sad but will be happy to land in England to start over looking for a job, place to live...etc all the fun stuff.

Well I am back in Bangkok after a 2 weeks in Indonesia which was a fun trip but expensive. We went straight to Bali and stayed there for 3 nights. We went there with no reservations and arrived at 11:00pm so we were walking around with our backpacks trying to find a hotel. Well we eventually found one for $50 USD which was not worth that. We were tired so we just wanted a bed. So the next day we found one for $66 which was nice. So we moved our stuff and hit the beach. The beach was nice, big waves and lots of fun. So while on the beach everyone thought I was Austrailan because there were a lot of them there on holiday. Then when I told them I was from the states they immediately said - "OBAMA"...haha Everyone there was glad and excited that he was elected. They also have these hawkers walking around on the beach selling all kinds of stuff - saraongs (which Nicole bought a few), hats, paintings, henna tatoos,....etc and fruit which was good on the beach.

They get to know you and will remember you and always come back. Our new friend Ani cut us up some fruit a few days we were there. While in Bali we went to this small town known for the arts and saw a Balinese dance. It was quite interesting and something to say that I've seen. It's where these guys are playing some instruments and then the people tell stories through their dancing. There was about 7 acts.

We hired a driver one day to take us around Ubud seeing temples and such. Then he took us to "his friends" coffee plantation where we got to sample some of the fresh coffee and tea. Of course we bought some tea and spices which was good. But he made a profit off of us since we bought something. That's how it works in the countries over here. In Thailand it's much worse with the gem shops and other things.

After that we made our way to Gili Air which took a 5 hours boat ride. We arrived there, again late at night and no place to stay so we got a transport to some of the guest houses since they were to far to walk to. There are not cars or motorcycles on the island which is kinda nice. This place was a little too quiet for us so we took a short boat ride to Gili Trawangan which was a more backpacker/party place. Compared to Thailand, plus being in high season this place was expensive $85/night. So this was another place to just relax and meet some new people. I did go scuba diving one day and it was amazing, I got to see - a 3.5ft white tip reef shark, 4 sea turtles, octopus, squid, and lots of tropical fish!! It was the best dive yet. The snorkelling was great as well. So we spent a few days there and decided it was time to go, we then took a fast boat instead of the slow one where we had to eat the cost. The Balinese people were very friendly and helpful. Even though we spent more money it was a good learning experience. Now next time we need to do more research and looking into so we aren't running around looking for accomidations while in peak season. The food wasn't all that great though, we ended up eating lots of western food, pizza, pasta, burgers...etc. And that didn't really agree with my stomach...I'll leave it at that haha So I was looking forward going back to Thailand for the cheap food.

We finally made it back to Thailand. Traveling can be a bit tired at times but in the end it's great. I get to experience all the different cultures and food. It really opens up my eyes and I try not to take the simplist things for granted that we do in America.

We are here for a few more days before heading to Istanbul. That should be a good time as well, pretty different from SE Asia - known for their coffee and great food. We are there for 5 days then going to Barcelona for 3 nights. After that I go to England while my girlfriend goes back to the states to work out her visa.

More to come from on Istanbul and Barcelona.....

Bangkok, Koh Tao and on....

Well my current location is Bali right now. I know I haven't written in my blog in a while because I've been on an island scuba diving and relaxing so I'll tell you a bit about it.
After Cambodia my girlfriend and I went to Bangkok (BKK) to hang out with my cousin for a few days. This is nice as it saves on a hotel. We really didn't do much there since we have already been there and seen the sites, so we went to this huge outside market (JJ) and only made it through not even a quarter of it and I was ready to go, sweating from walking around so much. You can get anything you want there from clothes, pets, household items, and so on. It's only on the weekends and it is packed with locals and tourists. We then went to this IT mall where you can get any kid of software, movies, tv series..etc. So my girlfriend and I picked up a bunch of new stuff for our Mac. We got the Adobe acrobat suite for probably about $20 (which in the US is quite a bit more,hehe), also got about 3 HBO series for really cheap as well and a bunch of other stuff.
Also while in BKK you have the guys trying to sell you suits and what not. You have to be careful because you can get ripped off but my cousin and his wife went to one specific on and got a pretty good deal. So I needed a suit and decided to get one myself tailor made. They were pretty cool. I got a suite and 3 shirts for approx $180 which is a great deal. My cousins wife who is Thai did the bargaining for me and got me a good price. After a few days there it was time to go to Koh Tao which is one of the many islands of Thailand known for it's scuba diving. I got my Advanced certification there and did some fun dives. It was a very chill island. The diving was pretty good, didn't see anything too cool - lots of fish, sting ray, crabs...etc. My girlfriend was a little board because it was mainly a diving place and the beaches there weren't all that great. So we had to figure out what we were going to do next. We played around with Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) but that seemed to be too expensive. We ended up deciding on Indonesia specifically Bali. So we had to go back to BKK and then the next morning we took 3 flights to get there around 11:30. I don't recommend that...I was way too tired. We stayed there for a few days just lounging on the beach. The waves were great and big. Did some boogie and body boarding. Couldn't have asked for more....the people are nice and it's a beautiful place. You do get some people walking along the beaches trying to sell you stuff, sarongs, food, newspapers, knives...etc.
We are now making our way to the Gili Islands which is supposed to have great diving and snorkelling. Just something else to travel and see. We really just want to relax a bit more before going back to the real world.
Well that's it for now. I know I don't have any pics because I didn't bring the connection with me and plus it take a bit with the computers here.
Till next time....