Gili Islands, Indonesia

Sunset over the volcano, Agung, in Bali
On Gili Trawangen - with the island of Lombok in the background
Chillin'
Will Goodman, on his return from his trial dive before going down for 31 hours

Dancers at the ceremony for Will Goodman
Full exposure
Tariq and local boy showing off on the beach

Local kids and one obvious tourist who looks a bit offended
Nice lighting on the beach at Gili Meno and Lombok in the backdrop
Local kids posing for a picture
Local fisherboyz
More acrobats on the beach - this guy has some skills
Hannah and I, after gorging on some fresh, local seafood
More naked kids on the beach (are you getting the wrong idea about me?)
Yellow-fin tuna
A slice of paradise
Ummm.. - I'm starting to get the wrong idea about me
Living a rough life on the Gili Islands

After arriving in Denpasar, I headed directly to the beach town of Kuta on Bali - although I was advised not to. However, after pulling an all-nighter in Bangkok the night before, I was in desperate need of a place to throw my bags and crash out. I spent that night and the following day there just strolling around and making more Indonesian friends than I really wanted to - the town is really built up and the beach is quite dirty and crowded - not what I came to find in Indonesia. Kuta is the town where the Bali bombings happened several years ago and I did pay a visit to the memorial and saw the site of the bar that was bombed - it's still empty and they haven't re-built anything - there are plans to make it into a memorial park. The town is full of night clubs and shops and a walk down the street was almost as much of a hassle as walking down a street in India - almost. The following day, I began my journey to the Gili Islands -which took a full day of traveling by bus to Padang Bai - the port town on Bali's east coast - and then hopping on a boat for 5 hours. The journey was nice, from what I saw - I spent a large chunk of the time asleep on the front deck - still catching up from my party time in Bangkok and the lack of sleep. Arrived on Gili Trawangen in the evening at sunset. The Gili Islands consist of 3 islands - Gili Trawangen, Gili Meno and Gili Air. Gili Trawangen is the busiest of all the islands and I decided to go there because I was ready to meet some fellow travelers and have a bit of fun. Gili Meno is the most laid back of all 3 - with very little in the way of restaurants and bars but beautiful beaches. Gili Air is somewhere in between. At this point, I wasn't sure where Amanda was - I thought that she was on an island off of Bali still and would be coming to the Gilis in a few days - but as it turned out - she was on the adjacent island - Gili Meno - enjoying some down time. I met a lovely German woman, Hannah, the prior night in Kuta and we agreed to meet up on Gili Trawangen. We had a few great days and nights together - partying it up at one of the many bars on the island. There is literally a party going on every single night at one of the bars - they rotate each night. I got burnt out on this pretty quickly after several consecutive nights of staying up until 3 a.m. - but enjoyed every minute of it. I went on a snorkeling trip one day in which we stopped at various spots around the islands and got to see some hawksbill sea turtles up close and personal. Also got to stop off on Gili Air and spend a short amount of time there. All of the islands here are beautiful - white sand beaches, turquoise blue sea, and coral reefs - it just depends on what you are looking for as far as action goes. On all of the islands, it's possible to circumnavigate the entire island by a sandy footpath - and I've managed to do this several times here on Gili Trawangen. On Gili Trawangen, there is a nice hill that you can hike up and get a 360 degree view from the top which is stunning. When I finally found out that Amanda was on Gili Meno - after a few days of being here since our only form of communication was the internet and that required sending an email and then waiting until the other one checked it and wrote back - so it took us a few days to make a plan. I finally went over to Gili Meno to visit her and we had a nice day catching up on things and having lunch together. She decided to come back to Gili Trawangen with me for the night - I managed to get a great room here for only 40 rupiah per night (less than $5) with 2 double beds, bathroom and a little porch outside. There are a few catches to this however: 1) I"m not on the beach, instead I'm in the village which is only a short walk to the beach; 2) I'm directly across the street from the mosque which begins with the morning prayer at 5:20 a.m.; and 3) there is a rooster who is going for rooster of the year that lives next door and conveniently begins his job just after the mosque is finished and you've finally managed to get back to sleep. But, what can I say, I'm cheap and I refuse to move - so I pay the price to suffer. Anyway - Amanda came back for a night with me and we had a nice seafood dinner together - there is a plethora of fresh seafood here - snapper, yellow-fin tuna, grouper, butterfish, barracuda and mahi-mahi - to name a few. You can walk up and pick your fish and they grill it right there and then you get an endless supply of fresh salad, potatoes, etc... The game plan was for me to go over to Gili Meno the following day and then Amanda and I would move to Gili Air for a few nights - and then I was planning to go on a boat trip to Flores a few days after. However, I decided to just stay on Gili Trawangen, because I was having a good time and enjoying the variety of options here. I ended up making some good friends here and having an amazing time - I'll leave it at that. Met some Finnish guys who were a great laugh, along with a crazy guy (just kidding, Tariq) from Montreal - who I ended up sharing lots of laughs and some unforgettable good times with over the past 2 weeks. Yes, that's right - I've been here for over 2 weeks now and can't seem to leave - it's a vortex, I swear. My days consist of waking up to the mosque, then Rooster of the Year, and then a few hours later - I go for my breakfast of a banana pancake and coffee. Shortly after this, I make my way to the beach where I lounge around, swim, read and get asked to buy pearls and necklaces about one hundred times. Once I've had my fill of the sun - I make my way to my favorite coffee shop - Coco's - for the most incredible iced cappuccino in the world and sometimes, a roasted veggie baguette sandwich. Along the way, I am greeted with the usuals, "Hello," "Where are you going?" and then followed by, "Can I come?" - and after a good few days here of being asked my name and where I was from by many of the local gigolos - I now get greeted with, "Ah-laska" My new response to that is to say, "Lombok" (which is the name of the big island just next to the Gilis and where a good majority of the people are from who live here) I find it funny but you may just have to be here to really appreciate it. Some days, I'll go snorkeling, if I can find a buddy because I'm too much of a wimp to go on my own - there are some crazy fish in these waters and I get a bit freaked out. When Amanda came over, we went snorkeling and ended up seeing 7 sea turtles - many of them very close, which was to me, amazing. One night, as I was walking down the street - I looked over and spotted a guy that I had met in Laos - nothing seems to amaze me anymore about traveling. I did know that he was planning to come to Indonesia but he wasn't supposed to be here for another month - so I was shocked when I saw him. So many travelers do the Southeast Asia loop that you seem to keep running into people along the way. Ah yes, and I can't forget to mention Will Goodman - the guy who is here and attempting the world record for staying underwater for 100 hours. Apparently, he already holds the world record for staying under for 24 hours but it was "unofficial" - so he was attempting to go for 100 hours and the Guiness Book of World Records, along with Discovery channel and a few others are here and monitoring him. He ended up staying down for 31 hours - which is still the world record and I saw him this morning and he was looking okay - I guess that there was a leak in his suit and he was getting hypothermic so he had to come up. He is raising money to put towards building a new school here so it's all for a good cause. There's a Swedish guy roaming around here who is trying to stay drunk for 100 hours - you get the idea of what things are like here now? I am gearing up to make a move here soon - which I've been trying to do for over a week now. I believe my next move will be to go to the bigger island of Lombok and check out a few spots over there before heading back to Bali to catch my flight on the 29th of April. I want to visit a town called Ubud on Bali before I go so that I can take care of some shopping, see some traditional dancing, take a few art classes and see some of the hilled rice terraces in the surrounding villages. Hard to believe that I'll be back in Homer in less than 2 weeks. I have gotten very used to this lifestyle and pace - and it's going to be a real shock to my system to go back to "real life." I'm convinced that I could be a professional traveler - if only someone would pay me to do this - any suggestions, anyone?

Hampi and the Hospet Hospital

Ruins in Hampi
Reservoir
View from the Monkey Temple
Village girl
Guy sleeping outside of his shop - this is what you see as you walk down the streets in the morning
Lakshmi getting her morning bath

Lakshmi still getting her bathAnd one more of Lakshmi, because she's so cute
Indians bathing and doing their laundry at the river
Esin
Cuneyt and Benjamin
Group shot - but where is Esin?
Sunset at the reservoir
View from the Monkey Temple

Another view from the monkey temple
Main temple in Hampi
Me and some sadhus
Village life across the river in Hampi
Man making deep fried chili peppers - delicious!
On the boat ride to Hampi - I love this photo!
Ruins in Hampi
Rock formations in Hampi
Village baby
Striking a pose

After 10 days in Gokarna, I finally managed to pack up the backpack yet again and move on to a place called Hampi. It is located inland from the Karnataka coast and is known for its rock formations and temple ruins. I came together with 3 friends - Esin and Cuneyt from Turkey and Benjamin from Germany. We had all been hanging out together in Gokarna and decided to go together to Hampi. There is a river running through Hampi and the main town is situated on one side - with the other side being mostly guest houses, restaurants and small shops. After staying in the main town for one night, we decided to move to the other side which was much more relaxed. In order to get there, you had to take a very short boat ride across the river for a mere 10 rupees. We found a great place with a shaded garden, an incredible view over the river and nice swings to relax in. I was really getting into the groove there. I had decided to get up the following morning to go to the monkey temple - which was about a 30 minute walk from our guest house. I woke up bright and early and set off on the road. To give you a brief background - while I was still in Gokarna - I developed a most disgusting and painful reaction to my numerous mosquito bites. Instead of just acting like normal mosquito bites where they just itched and then went away - these got really infected. About a dozen of them got very swollen and filled up with pus. They became extremely painful - to the point that it was hard to walk on my one leg because there were so many infected around my ankle and foot. I was beginning to get a bit worried about them - not to mention that it was painful and the day before I decided to go to the monkey temple - I saw a doctor. He informed me that I had an allergic reaction and gave me some pills to take for the infection and gave me some cream to put on them. This all happened the evening before my morning walk to the monkey temple. So, where was I - oh yes, I woke up bright and early and set off on the road to the monkey temple. A few minutes into my walk, I got the feeling that something wasn't right. My kidneys actually hurt - I started thinking that maybe it was the pills that the doctor had given me. But, as I continued on, I realized that it was more than that - by the time that I got to the end of the road, I was so exhausted that I had to sit down for a minute. I decided to turn around and go back to the room. By the time that I got to the room, I had to crawl into bed immediately. Within minutes, my temperature was soaring - my skin was so hot to the touch - like an inferno. And then I got uncontrollable shakes/shivering. I was completely bundled in blankets and clothes and I was just shaking non-stop - so much that my teeth were chattering and I couldn't stop. I had a raging headache and both of my hands were numb - I couldn't get the feeling to come into them. The shaking went on for about 30 minutes or more and then it finally stopped. I made my way out to the restaurant and told the owners what was happening to me and they said that I needed to go to the hospital. I had just stopped taking my anti-malaria pills 4 days previous and I was pretty convinced that I had malaria - as I had every single one of the symptoms. At this point, my fever was at 101. The owners woke up my friends for me and Benjamin and Cuneyt accompanied me to the hospital. It was a horrific ride to the hospital for me as I first had to take the boat ride across the river and then a bumpy rickshaw ride from Hampi to Hospet - where the closest and best hospital was located. By the time that I got to the hospital - I could barely stand and my fever had gone up to 104 - within an hour. They immediately took my blood and tested me for malaria and other things - as well as took my fever. The doctor came back with the results and told me that I did not have malaria - that I had enteric fever. I wasn't sure what that was but he said that my fever was very dangerous and that I needed to stay in the hospital for 2 days and 2 nights. They immediately hooked me up to an IV and started pumping me up with stuff. The whole first day was a blur as I faded in and out of sleep and fought my fever. By the early evening, I was feeling much better but then the fever came back. It went on like this for 2 days and up until the morning that I got discharged. I questioned the doctor some more about my diagnosis and finally heard the word typhoid fever for the first time - which was more familiar to me than enteric fever. So, I got typhoid fever, even though I'd been vaccinated for it last year. I guess the vaccination is not 100% and you contract it through contaminated food or water. My theory is that when I had those open wounds on my legs and went swimming in Gokarna - I got infected from the sea water. I only say this because in India - people use the toilet wherever and whenever they need to - and although the ocean was clean in front of our hotel in Gokarna, where I swimmed - if you walked up the beach for a little ways - in front of the fishing villages - you could see piles of turds lined up all along the shore. So, not sure if my theory is correct but it seems that the infections on my legs and the sudden onset of the illness must be connected - or maybe not, who knows. Anyway, I am doing much better now as I am on antibiotics for the next 2 weeks. I did a lot of research on typhoid and it said that I could have the symptoms off and on for the course of my treatment but so far, i have been lucky - i've only had a headache. It was a very scary experience to be in a hospital in India - but I must say that they took very good care of me. It wasn't quite the Indian experience that I was looking for. The hospital was nice enough but nowhere near the standards of the hospitals at home, obviously. It may have been a bit better if I had been in a bigger city but considering the circumstances, I was happy to be where I was. By the last day there, I was almost climbing the walls - with nothing to do except stare at them while I laid on my rock hard bed in the heat - swatting at mosquitos and lighting the candle in between the power outages. Yes, this is India. I thankfully had an overnight guest on the first night - chunate came and stayed with me which was very nice adn then on the second night, I had a Canadian roomate who was also in the hospital with a bad case of diarrhea. I had planned to leave Hampi the day after I got sick and already purchased a train ticket and a domestic airline ticket from Bangalore to Calcutta but had to miss my train and re-schedule the ticket - as well as change my international flight from Calcutta to Bangkok. I shouldn't say "I", because the responsibility fell onto my friends who ended up helping me out so much through all of this. Esin, Cuneyt and Benjamin - you are the best and I am so thankful for meeting you on this journey! After returning to Hampi, I hung out for 3 more days to rest and see the sights that I had missed out on during my hospital stay. I finally made it to the monkey temple for sunset and it was well worth this journey - this time, I did it on bicycle. I also explored some of the ruins around Hampi - which there are hundreds, so I barely touched the surface. And I also made it to the reservoir for a nice dip in the cool waters and a lovely sunset. I got lucky to see the holy elephant, Lakshmi, getting her morning bath in the river, as well as getting a "blessing" from her in the temple. Lakshmi spends most of her day in the temple where you can go and feed her bananas or give her money. If you give her a rupee, she takes the rupee from your hand with her trunk, hands it to her trainer and then you stand there and wait for her to give you a tap on your head with her trunk. All in all, i absolutely loved Hampi. It was so different from anyplace else that I've seen in India. It was a good place to end my journey here in India and it definitely feels like time to move on - even though I'm not quite sure what the next step is. I am now in Calcutta and getting ready to fly to Bangkok tommorrow morning. I just picked up the Southeast Asia Lonely Planet here in Calcutta and i will be reading that during my airport time and flight and hopefully come up with a plan. It's a toss up between Laos, Vietnam or Cambodia - or a combination of one or two of those. It's looking like I'll have to spend a few days in Bangkok to smooth out the plans and figure out my visa requirements. So, from one crazy city to the next, I go. India has been an intense experience for me, all around. I completely understand why people say that one minute, you love it and the next minute, you hate it. I can now relate to that feeling. It's the most intense, chaotic, beautiful, disgusting, colorful, infuriating, noisy, dirty, populated and mesmerizing country in the world. And I hope that I added enough positive words in there as well because it's not all negative. It really is an amazing country and after visiting the south - I have a much more holistic and pleasant view of India. I'm not in a hurry to come back, just yet - but I know that I will.

Arambol, Goa and Gokarna, Karnataka

The northern end of Gokarna beach - at the rivermouth
Lush rice fields in Gokarna - this is just a 10 minute walk from the shores of the Arabian Sea
Village fisherman repairing his net - behind him you can see the fish drying in the sun underneath a fishing net
Fishing village in Gokarna
Small packets of cotton candy, anyone? We ran into this guy while walking on dirt paths through the fishing villages.
Fellow Homerites - Brad and Melissa
Sunset Cafe - the place that I stayed in Gokarna
Indian pilgrims at Gokarna Beach at sunset
The gardens surrounding my room in the village of Gokarna
Om Beach
This sign is posted outside of the Rama temple (Rama is one of the millions of Hindu gods) in Gokarna
I saw this man walking down the beach carrying a huge basket of dried leaves and I'm not sure what was inside but it looked unbelievably heavy
This crazy contraption is in the center of town in Gokarna and is supposedly going to be used i an upcoming celebration - they will actually pull this through the streets
Local fishermen working their nets in Gokarna
The beach in front of the place that i'm staying at in Gokarna
On my walk back to my room
Village life in Gokarna - this was also taken on the path that i use to get back to my room which goes through the gardens

Gokarna beach, Karnataka
Fishing boats at a beach north of Arambol, Goa
Worth a picture
It's not just us who likes the beach - only in India
Traditional fishing boat in Arambol, Goa
Arambol sunset, Goa
Arambol beach, Goa

After a long overnight bus journey, I arrived in Goa on the morning of my 32nd birthday. Goa is the name of a state in India and is comprised of many different beachside towns that are ever popular with tourists. I debated a lot about whether or not i should even visit this part of India and if so, which beach to choose. I decided in the morning to get off of the bus and go to one of the northern beaches - I was burnt out from traveling so much and needed a break. The beach town that i chose was Arambol. After arriving, i made the walk down into the town and began the search for a place to stay. I ended up meeting a nice German guy, Adrian, who informed me that there was a nice place to stay where he was staying and that they were having a confirmation party for their grandaughter and he could show me the way. One of the immediate things that i noticed upon arriving in Goa is that Christianity, mainly Catholicism, is more prevalent than Hinduism and Muslim - which is a big change from Rajasthan and other northern parts of India. All of these religions co-exist in India harmoniously. It is by far the most diverse, spiritual and fascinating country and culture that i've ever visited. Back to my story - I followed my German friend, Adrian, back to the guest house, which was tucked nicely away within the village. Indeed there was quite a celebration taking place and the owner, Maria, showed me to my room and invited me down to eat some food and have a beer. I took her up on the offer and joined Adrian and an American woman, Kathryn in the festivities. There was an amazing amount of food and Maria kindly served me a nice, cold Kingfisher - the beer of choice here in India. As I stuffed my face, I looked up and noticed that there were balloons hanging up everywhere and they said, "Happy Birthday." For a brief moment, i pretended it was my birthday party. I ended up spending 4 days in Arambol and spent a lot of time walking the beaches and exploring. Arambol - like most of Goa - is quite touristy and although there seemed to be great people there - it wasn't the experience or scene that i was searching for. I was feeling quite lonely, even though i spent a lot of time getting to know Adrian and Kathryn. One day I made an Indian friend at breakfast and he offered to take me to the Bunyon tree and the freshwater lake which was just around the corner from Arambol beach. I decided to join him and we made our way to the other beach, where the freshwater lake was. We then followed the trail into the forest and along a creek until we reached the Bunyon tree. i had no idea what to expect - i was just expecting a large tree and maybe some monkeys. Instead, I found a huge tree where an old hippy woman apparently lives and a bunch of hippies with instruments hanging out, twirling around and chilling out. I hung out there for a short while and then we made our way back along the creek and stopped off at one spot where there was a large deposit of clay. We chipped the clay off of the sides of the creek and mixed it up with water to form a paste and gave ourselves a mud bath. I covered my body completely in mud and then walked back to the freshwater lake to allow it to dry. I then took a glorious dip in the freshwater lake to wash off the residue. My skin felt incredibly soft afterwards. After exploring as much as i could in Arambol, I decided to continue south - where i heard about an amazing place called Gokarna. After 6 different bus rides and an entire day of traveling, i finally made it to Gokarna. It was only supposed to be 3 bus rides and then a very short train ride but I missed my train and ended up having to take 3 more buses and it took me 4 more hours than it would have if I had made my train. I literally watched my train pull away as i tried to run to the platform with my gigantic backpack. It wasn't my favorite day, that's for sure. Then, upon arrival - finally at 8:00 p.m., i roamed the streets of Gokarna to find a place to stay. i found a decent place and i was anxious to get the backpack off and get some sleep after a long day of travel. After walking around town, i quickly realized that the mosquitos were relentless and in abundance and that my place did not have a mosquito net. So, it was a very long night for me - and on top of that, it rained so hard that i thought the entire building would float away - which only made for more mosquitos. I anxiously awaited sunrise so that i could get the hell out of there. The next day, as i was walking down the street - i ran into a girl from Turkey - whom I had met in Pushkar about a month ago. She told me about that place that they were staying and i went to check it out. It was perfect - it's located on a very secluded part of the beach - just a short walk from town and it is only 100 rupees/night (equal to $2.50) and I even have an Indian toilet (squat toilet) and a bucket shower in my room. The best part about the place where i'm staying is that although it's not right on the beach - it's a beautiful 5 minute walk from the beach through acres and acres of lush, organic gardens. Although the room is nothing special - it can best be described as a prison cell-like cement room with no character - the surrounding village and gardens more than make up for the ambiance that my room lacks. My favorite time is in the morning when i wake up - which is usually just after sunrise - and as i walk to the restaurant for my morning chai, i watch the villagers tending to their gardens. Yesterday, as i walked back to my humble abode - a girl asked me to come and help her to lift a gigantic basket of vegetables onto her head. i couldn't believe how heavy it was - i followed her down the path in amazement. There are 4 other beaches just around the headland that you can explore as well and I spent an entire day walking all the way to the last beach, Paradise Beach - and then took a motorboat back. My favorite beach is Om beach - which is literally in the shape of an Om symbol. It's a great beach but there is something really special about where i am staying - i like being surrounded by the villagers and seeing their day-to-day activities - and did i mention the gardens already? I am spending a lot of time with people from Turkey - there is a little group of them traveling together and they have become a great support network for me and it's really good to have some company right now. I had grand plans for doing southern India in just over 3 weeks and now that i am here, i don't feel like moving. I have been in Gokarna for 5 days and not sure when I'll get out of here. I have my favorite restaurant which I hit daily for an ice cream lassi, a bicycle to ride around, good people to hang with, a hammock to chill out in on my porch, good books to read and the Arabian sea at my doorstep - practically. Not a bad place to get "stuck." More to come......
Still in Gokarna - it's now been over a week - just can't seem to leave this place. So, a funny thing happened to me while eating in my favorite restaurant, Prema. I'm hanging out with some friends that I've met - and one of the guys is from Turkey and we have an ongoing thing about him being anti-American. We're joking around about something and he says, "I ate Americans," - don't ask me why he said but he did - and I respond by saying, "Yeah, I hate Americans." And a girl that is sitting behind me turns around and goes, "Me,too!" Being that I was actually joking when I said it, I was a bit alarmed when someone actually responded by saying that they did hate Americans. I was a bit offended, I guess you could say - or taken back and after a few minutes, we got up to leave the restaurant. As I got to the counter, I turned to look at this woman, who was glaring and obviously very pissed off, and I smiled at her. I got outside and started talking to my friends about how this woman was really pissed off. A few minutes later, the guy that was sitting at the table with her comes out and says to me, "You're from Homer? We're from Homer, too. We live on Diamond Ridge." I really couldn't believe it. And this is how I meet Brad and Melissa from Homer. Melissa was the girl who I had allegedly pissed off with my comment. What a funny way to meet. It turns out that Melissa was going to be one of the chefs at the Homestead this summer but has taken another job. What a small, small world. For me, it was like a gift from the gods to meet them there because I had been feeling so homesick and to be able to hang out with some fellow Homerites almost felt like taking a quick trip back home for a few days. I no longer wanted to leave Gokarna so fast and stayed on for a few more days to hang out with Brad and Melissa and had a great time with them. I look forward to getting to know them more once I get back to Homer. We had one incredible day where we went up to the rivermouth to explore the area - where practically no tourists go. We walked through the fishing villages and went swimming in a perfect swimming hole - and then had the most delicious tandoori chicken that I've ever had for dinner. Am I talking about the food again? So much for my plan to be on a diarrhea diet here in India - instead, I've been putting on the pounds. It's just too good to resist. So, my time in Gokarna was a real highlight of my trip - it was exactly what I needed - some time to relax and really get to know a place - and time to spend with friends.