Indonesia
Hidden in plain sight.
Indonesia consists of 17,000 islands and is the 4th most populated country in the world with 270 million citizens. I’ll bet you didn’t learn much about it in school!
For us that meant a real adventure into areas we knew very little about and physical challenges including 10 flights and 6 hotels (including a boat) in 18 days. We started in Singapore to get over the jet lag and eat some great food.
Below are photos from Singapore, Borobudur, Borneo, Flores (and Komodo), Bali (Ubud) and Sanur.
First let’s start with Singapore: We stayed at The Fullerton Hotel that had a very chic whiskey bar and unbelievable breakfast “experience”. Gardens by the Bay, high end shopping, Michelin starred food stalls and fascinating Chinatown are all well worth the visit.
Singapore
Lau Pa Sat
This Singapore landmark is 130 years old and contains 80 food stalls within easy walking distance from The Fullerton Hotel.
Borobudur Markets, Hindu & Buddhist Temples
Borobudur and Prambanan temples are wonderful 8th and 9th century ruins that have been carefully restored after many years of complex reconstruction. We had a fantastic guide who was also a botanical expert and he kept up a rapid pace for 3 days. First we stopped at a food market in the town of Borobudur as it was winding down. Then we checked into the Planarian Borobudur which was a delightful compound of individual villas. We ended up getting bumped to the Grand Villa with a private pool and floating afternoon tea.
The last day wed toured a little village where we played gamelan with the school kids and saw several examples of the entrepreneurial spirit— weaving, growing mushrooms and making cassava chips.
Cruising in Borneo
Landing on the island of Borneo, we were shuttled to our river boat or “klotok” which was to be our home for 3 nights. It took us up the river to see the feeding stations for the orangutans. There are only about 5000 orangutans left in the wild and the palm oil plantations are rapidly shrinking their habitat. They are magnificent animals with amazing faces. We also saw macaques, proboscis monkeys, colorful birds, poisonous snakes and sneaky crocodiles. The last night we moored next to a huge outgrowth of mangroves that was filled with fireflies. The chef was awesome, the guide was mischievous and the comfortable stateroom was air conditioned!
We spent the last day just slowly cruising the river and stopping to see more wildlife on either side.
Klotok Parking and Cruising
From the controlled chaos of parking so many boats around the orangutan feeding areas to the calm of just cruising down the river, these klotok boats need a skilled crew. Our captain and guide had sharp eyes and stopped for us to get pictures of wildlife we encountered along the way.
Bali and Ubud
Bali is a magical place, but Ubud was marred by massive traffic jams. The narrow winding streets were overwhelmed with cars, motorbikes and slow moving tourists. But we took electric bikes through the rice terraces, saw a monkey chant performance, took a cooking class, bought artisan carving directly from the workshop and ate some wonderful meals.
Ran into a group of boys dressed in traditional garb at a temple during an event. They were very curious about things in America.
Are there lots of beautiful movie stars in California?
Yes, actually. There are.
Cool. What was your favorite food?
I had an awesome fish curry last night and dragon fruit juice with milk for breakfast. Every meal is my favorite meal!
And what was my Instagram link?
thestevebayes of course!
Flores & Komodo Island
We ended the trip on the island of Flores, flying into Labuan Bajo and staying at the equally awesome Plataran Komodo. We took a boat trip to Komodo island and saw 11 Komodo dragons. Then we snorkeled at Pink Beach and later swam with a group of 15 manta rays on the way back to the hotel. Our guide had only ever seen that many once before in his 10 years of leading snorkel tours. Unfortunately, we also got pretty bad sunburns on our backs. The sun is deceptively strong and, even after all the warnings, we still didn’t put enough sunblock on. Rookie mistake! But then we got massages and a sun treatment wrap at the Plataran on our last day while just chilling.
Flew home by first flying to Sanur for one evening to be by the Bali airport. Then we flew through Singapore to San Francisco on a very, very long last day.
Komodo Dragons
We were privileged to see 11 dragons and almost no other tourists. It can get crowded when the tour boats pull in. And it was after the mating season so the females were no longer in hiding. They are no joke and the guides were quite careful with keeping it all under control.
Last Night in Sanur
Jane rocked out to the local cover band who had memorized every note and beat from some of the best hits of the 60’s and 70’s You might recognize Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple. A local girl sitting next to us dragged her onto the dance floor for some support.
Last Morning
Walking the beach in Sanur the morning before our flight brought us to beautiful temples and local musicians. It was hard to leave, but I was longing for the cool fog of San Francisco!