Peace n Love

Day 53- We took the late boat out of Gili T and headed to Kuta (Bali) for the night, before catching a flight the next day to Thailand. Mike and I spent 6 weeks in Indonesia and we could have easily spent much more. There are so many hidden gems around every corner and so many places waiting to be found.

Our night in Kuta was spent with massages and cigars on our little patio.

Day 54- Another early morning flight took us from Denpasar airport in Bali, to Bangkok Thailand. Due to the terrorism incidents in Thailand, just a few days prior, we were cautious with our plans and tried to keep away from big tourist attractions. So the first line of business after we got settled was to eat some Thai curry. I have dreamt about the massaman curry from thailand and no one anywhere else seems to make it the same. Next line of business was to get some suits made for Chudi and Kassie. We went to a tailor highly recommended by the Free and Easy family and Chudi and Kassie settled in for some tough negotiations. 

These things take time and patience. Kassie is demonstrating how to sit and wait patiently while Chudi explores every option possible. She doesn't look bored at all... After the suits were chosen and their measurements were taken, we headed to MBK to do some shopping and eat Pizza Hut. Kassie's bruises were coming in nicely and it was really starting to show how hard she had fallen. 

                           

I forgot to explain the one on her back. That is from when she was gracefully walking through the water with flippers. She fell backwards on a large piece of coral, this was the same day that she fell on her bike. I discovered something on this trip that I didn't know about Kassie. She is very accident prone and her mom is right to worry about her every move! How she walks around in 3 inch Michael Kors heels I don't know. 

Kassie rode in her first Tuk Tuk on our way back to the hostel. 

Day 55- Once again, we had another busy day of travel from Bangkok to Haad Yuan. This place is magical and the landscape looks like it's taken right out of Disneyland. Haad Yuan has been on our minds since we came 4 years ago, so we were so happy to be back. We checked into our room at Ocean Rock Resort where we were paying $12 bucks each a night. We didn't do a very good job of preparing Kassie for such basic accomodation and she was definitely shocked to see where we'd be sleeping for the next 3 nights. However I must say, she did very well and she did it with no complaints. 

            

What you see here is what you get. I can't blame her either, not a lot of people would want to sleep in this type of accomodation but for the price and the view, it was worth it.

We took it easy on our first night and focused on making our home a home. The full moon party was the next day so we stayed up late and played games to prepare us for the imminent late night. 

Day 56/57- We woke up late and had a lazy day on the beach, ate good food and slept the afternoon away. Around 6pm it was time to paint our bodies for the night ahead. We wanted to be a team of hippies for the night so we covered our arms and legs with symbols of peace and love. 

Yes those are flowers in Mike's beard and they were a huge hit. I have wanted to do that since he grew his beard and this presented the perfect opportunity. 

                             

We headed to the local bar before making our way to the craziness of the full moon party on Haad Rin beach. Of course we took this opportunity to take more photos and utilize their black lights.

Me and "Miss" Kassandra (not for long).

We left for Haad Rin beach around midnight and when we arrived, the beach was in full(moon) party mode. Unfortunately, I was dealing with some serious stomach issues so I stuck to water for most of the night but we had to make an exception and get Kassie her first thai bucket.

                           

The beach on full moon is overrun with attractions from music, to fire jump rope, to strength competitions to dance offs and even sleeping areas for people who partied too hard. Chudi and I tried our strength at one of the hanging booths and we both won, although we didn't actually win anything but the right to say we won. Kassie and I did some yoga on the beach to combat our sleepiness late night and Mike and I learnt some of today's hottest dance moves from Kassie and Chudi; the whip and the nene.

                           

                  

Chudi was feeling confident and wanted to show his sick skills at the burning jump rope but Kassie and I were not supportive. Although, I secretly knew it would make for an awesome slow motion video, so when he decided to go for it, I was standing by to capture the terrifying moment on camera.

                              

Disclaimer: No Chudi's were harmed or injured during the making of this film.

Just to clarify, Chudi did not only successfully enter the jump rope with ease but he actually danced in between each jump, if it wasn't for the guy wearing black who jumped in after, this would have been quite the show. All in all it was a great night and like all successful full moon parties, we made it until the morning to see the sun come up. 

After a short sleep we woke up to enjoy another easy day on Haad Yuan. We chilled in the ocean for most of the day and I walked along the beach to get some good photos of the beauty that makes Haad Yuan so unique. 

                             

After a some dinner and a movie at Big Blue restaurant we went to sleep for our last night in our mouse infested bungalow. We packed our bags that night and noticed that a little mouse had been very busy during our stay. It ate a fairly big hole through my new backpack cover and some of my cords, our toothpaste and Kassie's day pack. It was time to leave. 

Helo from Indo

I had to laugh when I asked the host at our hostel how to say hello in Indonesian and she responded, helo. Spelt with only one l. Indonesia has a huge dutch influence and if you've ever heard someone speak dutch it sounds a lot like english. Same goes for those speaking in Indonesian, you feel like you can understand what their saying although you can't. 

After a very very long flight from Honolulu, Hawaii, we finally arrived in Indonesia. We got to our hostel around 2 am and quickly discovered that we had chosen a great place to spend five days. Six Degrees Backpackers hostel is the name and I would recommend it to anyone coming to Jakarta. The common area is always bustling with backpackers looking to meet new people, the dorm rooms are clean and they make great food with no MSG. 

I was showing Mike a shark attack video and our roomate thought "the married couple was cute" and she felt it was a good opportunity for a photo haha so we smiled for the camera. 

            

One of our first indonesian meals at our hostel. It cost us $2.60 US. 

                       

This one was $3 US. The cook warned me that it was it was a bit spicy.. hilarious.. it was dragon fire breathing spicy and that was according to Mike but still delicious.

                       

Day 15/16- Our first day here we were so jet lagged that we just hung out at the hostel for the day. It is 33 degrees outside and air conditioned inside, which makes it very easy to stay indoors. This night we succumbed to our tiredness and went to bed at 7pm..... and woke up at 3am. Wide awake. So I facetimed my family and emailed around indo to make plans for the next 5 weeks. Mike was involved in a very important and serious matter. A matter that required his complete attention for the livelihood of our family! A matter that makes the phrase "it matters", matter... I am of course referring to the four hour affair that was his fantasy football draft! This is "The Year".  :) 

We figured if there was any chance our sleep schedule was going to return to normal, we would have to stay awake until that evening. So we went to the mall. The greatest mall we have every seen. Better than any of the malls in Vegas. It is called Grand Indonesia Mall and grand it is. Eight floors of amazing. We easily spent the next nine hours there. 

Mike almost made headlines as the balloon man of Indonesia. Luckily he didn't go far. 

                          

Mike also got a 40 minute hair cut. It was the most meticulous and precise hair cut I've ever seen.  

                          

Then we went to the movies.... and we sat in the Gold theaters... which was made up of individual couches that reclined with a remote control and blankets to keep you cozy during the show. 

Saw this in the theater and liked what it said.

Day 17- After a normal sleep and a casual breakfast we walked down to the National Monument. It is pretty crazy how much attention we get when walking around the streets here. We are constantly getting honked at. I can tell it's getting to Mike's head as he thinks he is the reason for getting so much attention... although I figure it might have something to do with the fact that 80% of the vehicles on the road are tuk tuks or taksis, who are just hoping we will hear their honk and be their next customer. I don't think I'll mention this to Mike though... he seems to like all of the extra attention.

The monument sits in the center of a beautiful green area that is not covered in garbage like a lot of Jakarta. There was about 5 huge line ups to get into the monument and potentially make it to the top to enjoy the view.. but Mike and I are were not interested enough to wait in the 35 degree heat, so we opted out and went back to the mall. :) No shopping this time, we just enjoyed the aircon and some snacks. 

                     

Mike's first coconut. All to himself. 

                     

Nothing like a good photobooth to capture our many feelings.

                       

                   

Day 18- Things have sure changed a lot since our last backpacking trip through Africa and we're hoping our first week in Indonesia won't speak for the rest of our trip. Typically we don't book anything in advance and we can show up on a hostels front step and have a place to stay. Things have changed. We had heard from someone that we might want to look at booking our next spot because things were booking up. She wasn't lying. We ended up looking into many of activities that we were hoping to accomplish while here and most were booked up. That was today's line of business. We spent most of the morning and early afternoon booking flights and hostels for the next 5 weeks. Sometimes these things can get stressful.. (I'm not complaining) so we figured we needed to treat ourselves to our first massage in Asia. We also took our first tuk tuk of this trip and it was just as fun as we remembered.

And for the massage...by far the worst yet. My lady was super lazy and was literally one handing it. At a few points I thought she actually fell asleep. haha Still can't complain though for a $12 dollar massage. Looking forward to Thailand, their better and cheaper.