New blog

I just can not seem to stop rambling on and on and on:
http://velvetapple.blogspot.com/

New travels

After a couple of weeks at home, I decided I needed a break from all the Swissness. Being free as a bird made me the ideal person to go travelling with, so who was I to complain when two friends asked me to go on holiday?

But first things first, I had missed the anniversary of our relationship. So my boyfriend and I stole away to Dublin, Ireland, for a long and romantic weekend. Fate was smiling upon us with beautiful weather, great experiences and a lot to explore. Lovely ;-).

A week after that, I navigated the cobbled streets of Lisabon (no mean feat with heels!) and lived off the free port wine of Porto (Portugal). Yum!
Three days later saw me braving the cold of Scotland, with full winter gear.
Thanks to the impressive Scotrail infrastructure, we toured through Edinburgh, Inverness, Loch Ness and Aberdeen, before finally relaxing in Glasgow. What a trip!

The last week of November saw M & me wandering through the streets of Prague. Soaking up the history, architecture and copious amounts of goulash soup! What a romantic city...

Christmas has now come and gone, leaving me contemplating the past year with all its joys and sorrows. Although I may not have had an epithany and am not yet sure where life's road will lead me (and how boring if I did!), I am proud to be able to say (in the words of Frank Sinatra), this year "I did it myyyyyyyyyyy wayyyyyyy!"

A belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!

Home

Time flew by in Kyoto and soon we moved on to Tokyo, where we spent a week learning how to make sake, shopping until our credit cards wilted and slurping soup to our heart's content.

Funds and rail pass exhausted, we said goodbye to the land of the rising sun and flew home to cold, cold Switzerland.

It is good to be home.

Japan

Our first stop and first real impression of Japan was Fukuoka. Historically supposedly one of the most international cities, due to its proximity with Korea and influx of Portuguese sailors so long ago.

We spent two days trying ramen (noodle soup), observing the Japanese scurry too and fro, comparing the malls with those of Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok (Singapore still beats them all) and just walking around.
Interestingly enough, their food courts are (unlike the SEA food courts) more like a group of individual little restaurants, each with plastic models of the food on display (thank goodness! reading Japanese is quite beyond us!) and a line of giggling girls and poker faced adults queuing. The food is relatively inexpensive, surprisingly enough. We generally spend around Fr. 9.- per meal, including drinks.

The prevalence of gaming parlours, especially "Patchinko" parlours is just amazing. You really get the impression that most of the population are hard core gamers and gamblers. Prizes range from candy bars to candy bars which you can exchange for money. Interesting system that. Elegant way around the "no money prizes" rule.

After Fukuoka (which we could never pronounce correctly) we boarded another Shinkansen down to Nagasaki.
The second city ever to be hit by an atom bomb. (During WW2. Hiroshima was the first city to be struck by nuclear warfare.)
It was quite terrible to see the destruction in the museum.
They had done up the area really well and you would never dream that in 1945 the whole surrounding area was completely flattened.

Our next stop was Beppu, famous for its numerous hot springs.
Now there are two kinds of hot springs, we learn from the Lonely Planet: the "jigoku" (or "hells"), which are for viewing and the "onsen", in which you can bathe.
It was terribly hot and humid (on average Japan has been around 30 degrees Celsius) so I was doubtful as to how relaxing these onsen would really be. Nevertheless we rented a private onsen (the onsen are generally split by sex and you bathe naked) and had a great time alternately dousing ourselves with cold water and boiling ourselves in the bath. Highly recommendable!

From Beppu we travelled over to Hiroshima.
It is a very nice town, bustling and green, cut through by rivers. But to be honest, I preferred Nagasaki over Hiroshima when it comes to commemorating the disaster and consequences of the nuclear bombs.

Yesterday we decided to visit Kobe (no, we didn't manage to try the famous Kobe beef) and patronise a Sake museum. The tasting after the hard work of walking around produced some of the tastiest sake I have ever sipped. (FYI, you don`t drink Sake, you sip it.)
But it was too early and we had planned to visit the famous castle at Himeji next, so we repressed the urge to invest in a bottle or two. (Have found that the ominous threat of "carrying" does wonders for my savings!)
The castle (a UNESCO Heritage site) was marvellous. Interestingly enough you had to take off your shoes. They gave you a plastic bag for them. At the end I spied an elderly lady cleaning and folding the used plastic bags, ready for reuse. That`s recycling!

Speaking about being environmentally sound, I noticed that everyone here 1. does not wear a mask (like they do when they come over to Europe) and 2. all vehicles turn off the engines at red lights no matter how long or short the wait and 3. the transport of choice seems to be the bicycle.

Another oddity are their toilets. Most of them have numerous buttons on the side. Haven`t quite figured out what they do, apart from an obvious one that gives you a "douche". When you sit down, the water starts running so that no one can hear you. Crazy!
The best one was at one of their huge internet cafes. (A great institution. With free ice-cream, drinks and soups, as well as an extensive menu, it was just begging to be tried and tested in true Japanese fashion.) The lid lifted itself automatically (got a huge shock when that happened!) and the seat was heated. Pure luxury!

I also love the omnipresent vending machines. The coffee is surprisingly good (you can even get cold starbucks coffee in the 7/11) despite being sweet. Instant caffeine and sugar rush combined.

Today we arrived in Kyoto. With numerous UNESCO Heritage sites and some 2000 Buddhist temples it is called the Paris of Japan. I am most interested in the Geisha (well, "Memoirs of a Geisha" was one of my favorite books for a time!) and the tea ceremony.
But tomorrow it is off to Nara, the old capital.
We are getting our money`s worth out of this JR Rail Pass!

The Great Ocean Road

Just glanced through my last two posts and realised that I forgot to mention that we zoomed along the Great Ocean Road before leaving Melbourne`s cold for the warmth of Cairns.

When we set out, anyone seeing us would have wondered if we were moving house. That was the extent of luggage we brought along for the weekend! Thankfully the boot was large enough for 3 huge backpacks...

It was quite an adventure getting out of Melbourne - driving on the "wrong" side of the road. Yet Francine rose to the challenge heroically and maneuvered between enormous lorries, numerous SUVs and not to mention the prevalent road rage without batting an eyelid.

Our first stop was near Torquay, where certain people went wild in the sales of Quicksilver / Billabong (surfer brands) and the like.
Fortified by a sushi lunch we sped on down to Lorne, a quaint little seaside village. Along the way we marvelled at the many untouched beaches. If it had been summer, we probably would have spent the whole time at a beach... but it was not to be.

We found a really nice backpackers just next to a cute tea house, serving up fresh scones with jam and clotted cream. Yum. You`ll never believe how hard it is to get Verveine tea over here. The Aussies don`t really have any kind of tea culture. How they miss out!
We had the best pizza of our whole trip here. A tiny little take away serving thin based pizza with the freshest ingredients, a definite must if you`re ever down here.

In the evening we patronised the (only) local pub. Francine and I relived our "skippy dance", a dance featuring all kinds of wildlife we encountered during our road trip in Jan 07. It involves a lot of vigorous jumping around. Only to be performed in Oz. Needless to say, everyone was impressed!
This guy tried to sell me this tall story that he was some kinda ranger, trimming eucalyptus trees for a living. The scars on his face were from the vicious koalas inhabiting the trees. Apparently when they cut down the trees, they strapped a tiny parachute on the animal and threw it out of the tree.
Yeah. Base-jumping koalas. Am not THAT drunk! Get me another drink on HIS tab (for having to listen to that), please!

We drove along the coast, enjoying the scenery, the lighthouses and the twelve apostles, before arriving in Warnambool (our turning point). I had read somewhere that there were whales along the coast and indeed, the receptionist confirmed that there was a mother and her cub just off the coast. Early morning at dawn was supposedly the best time to see their activity.
Of course we couldn't resist (well, minus Mark, the lure of a warm bed was too strong for him!) and rose early. Blurry-eyed Francine and I sped out to the designated area. I must admit that we were a bit too over ambitious with our early rising, as it was still pitch black we arrived at our destination. Thankfully we had passed an open 7/11 store, so we bridged the time with a warm drink.

Finally dawn broke and as you can imagine, we were the only ones there!
There we stood, our eyes straining into the distance, frantically checking each wave for a sign of a fin or something. Then suddenly, a spurt of water and a black dot that was, yes, it was a fin!! Not the tail fin but a fin nonetheless!
We spent around an hour squeaking excitedly whenever we saw a bit of the whale, however tiny. Finally we gave up and went back to brag.
Of course, on our way back to Melbourne we stopped to see if we could see any further activity and lo and behold there the cub was, showing off, rolling around and flicking its tail (once!) to a receptive audience. Oh well. So much for the early rising.

Last stop was at a winery in the middle of nowhere. The wine was just about ok and we were introduced to the concept of flourless chocolate cake. Tasted fine, yet was not convinced by the absence of flour (consistency was quite soggy).

Fast Forward Oz - next is Japan

***News Flash***
I have made it to Japan!!!
After spending one night in Tokyo in a delightful tatami-matted room, we tore ourselves away from the city of our dreams (leave the best for last - and hope the awaited earthquake wont hit the city til after we leave (they have one every 100 yrs or so and apparently it is overdue by 10 yrs already. Parents: breathe!).

09:03 Tuesday morning saw us boarding the shinkansen (bullet train, think TGV but faster) for Fukuoka/Hakata. The plan is to go as far away from Tokyo as possible and work our way back.

Just standing on the platform waiting for the train was an experience. They have waiting lines on the ground for every car and before you enter, an army (well, a mean looking team) of pink-clad cleaners shot into the train and mopped, scrubbed and changed the white cloth on the head piece of every seat. When they were finished, hand-signs were given, shouts were exchanged and then we could board. A very comfortable 6h ride.
The Japanese are very proper: whenever either the conductor or the woman pushing the food cart entered or left a waggon, they bowed and said a few words. Got quite a shock the first time as the guy looked at me and I thought he was talking directly to me! (Luckily I did not have time to reply.. saved myself an embarrassing moment there!)

But I first need to tell you about Oz... just noticed that my last post was about Melbourne!
Has to be quick, as M wants to leave... the irony is, that we are now in one of these super Internet cafes where u can sleep and shower etc. and he wants to go! Oh well, guess it really is just the game he loves and not the Internet (unlike me...!).

We flew up to Cairns from Melbourne, thankful to flee the cold at last (but v. sorry to leave certain people behind... sniff).
It was nice and warm up there, but with a biting wind, so managed to buy two pairs of ugg boots on the first night (and believe me, they came in very handy for the rest of the trip!)!

As we opted not to go to Darwin, we decided to spend the money on a helicopter flight out over the Great Barrier Reef. Was absolutely amazing! Saw whales, dolphins and turtles, unfortunately the sharks hid themselves from view. The flight itself was a fantastic experience, got the poor pilot to explain every little dial to me. Must have been glad to get rid of us!

The next day we took a boat tour out to the reef, to see it from up close. That was also utterly amazing. Did some snorkeling and saw turtles besides a multitude of colourful fish in every shape and size. The most beautiful thing I saw was this huge clam, shimmering pink and purple at the bottom of the ocean. On the way back we were accompanied by 3 humpback whales, pretending to be rabbits. They kept jumping up and around us and gave us quite a show! The crew were also absolutely awed (there is something magical about a whale rising out of the water just next to you) and said they had never seen such a performance before.

We went out in the evening and missed the next days tour up to the tablelands. But luckily we could change it to the next Monday.
That was a bit of a anti-climax after the other two excursions. First of all we found ourselves surrounded by oldies but goldies. It was actually really nice, we saw some snakes and tortoises as well as a huge tree beset by a strangling fig. Quite impressive. A waterfall later we had lunch on a ranch out in the outback. It was really interesting to talk to the kids living up there. They go to boarding school in Brisbane and have to go back to the city to learn a trade afterwards, but yearn to work out in the middle of nowhere (literally!). The steaks they served up for lunch were funnily enough not from their own cattle but bought from the local shop. They can only serve food that has an official butchers seal on it.

After Cairns we flew down to Sydney and there we met our first "long-lost" cousin, Sherry. It was amazing to meet up with her and she kindly enough put us up (and put up with us!) for four nights.
We were quite shattered from travelling (woke up at 4am for the flight), but wanted to see Sydney so dragged our protesting bodies out to Manly for lunch. From there we took the ferry over to Sydney and was that sea choppy! Mark quite enjoyed it, but I felt seasickness looming! In Sydney we did the main sights (opera house, tower bridge, darling harbour, chinatown, markets, etc.) before crashing into a pub to flee a sudden torrential downpour.
Sherry and Matt were great tourist guides, taking us out to bars/cafes/restaurants and dropping us here and there, making sure we saw all the good sights and even got tickets to an AFL football game (Australia Rules football, similar to rugby)... a huge THANK YOU to you two!

We flew on to Perth, to meet up with the more "obscure" relatives (well, besides Jerry & Julia, we hadn't seen the rest for over 10 years!). As our trip had been kicked into fast forward, we didn't give the poor family much time to prepare. But they rose to the occasion marvelously and we had a great time.
Uncle David picked us up from the airport and it was quite bizarre to meet someone who bears such a strong resemblance to Mum. He drove us up to Jerry and Julia`s place where we would be spending the next two nights. It was great to see them again. Jerry is a fantastic cook and we first subtly then not so subtly tried to get him to cook instead of us going out to restaurants... so mean, I know! But his food is soo good! (M is complaining that he wants to go, so I have to fast forward this bit):

We hired a car for two days and drove down to Albany, making for the Valley of Giants. Its a wood of huge Tingle trees (eucalyptus trees - no, no koalas this time), some over 400 years old where you can walk on a sky walk amongst the tops of the trees. Was really impressive. Drove back and spent the night in Fremantle, a town just about 20km down from Perth. Was a really nice drive, all that lovely scenery. Had a very weird pizza for dinner though. Imagine a thick pizza base with green pesto on it. Then dump a mixed salad on top (yes, lettuce, olives, huge chunks of feta and some slivers of tomatoes). Interesting yet tasty. Didn't see why they called it a pizza though.

Went back to Perth the next day and met up with David. Went down to Jenny and Anthony`s place this time. They had just been down south too and we were lucky to catch them. Had a great time with them and especially their daughter Glenda. We unfortunately missed their other two daughters (one in Melbourne and the other just left for Melbourne one day before we arrived). At dinner we met Auntie Irene and Uncle Eugene, what a family reunion! The next day Jerry and Julia came down and David brought his daughter Jackie and her boyfriend. The food was delicious, Jerry brought a curry and Anthony showed his prowess at the bbq.

A huge THANK YOU to all of you too, for making us feel so welcome, putting us up, feeding us and showing us around (especially David for that point). We really appreciate it and hope to reciprocate when you come to Switzerland.

Melbourne & Rye

We are off to the Great Ocean Road today. It is cold and grey outside, but at least it isn’t raining (yet). Melbourne does go through the 4 seasons in one day, no, make that one morning. Which is nice when it is raining, at least you know the sun will come out soon. Crap if it is the other way round.

Francine and her boyfriend Jackson kindly picked us up at Melbourne airport. So nice to see her again!
They live in St. Kilda, a really nice (“trendy”) part of town (or suburb; Melbourne is made up of suburbs as far as I can figure out). To celebrate our reunion we went down to the beach and enjoyed a glass of wine. At first we were lolling around in the sun, chuckling to ourselves that this weather wasn’t that bad after all. But then the clouds obscured the sun and a sharp wind reminded us that winter and the indicated 13°C were true fact. Brr!

I have taken to wearing at least 6 layers of clothing, without counting my coat. To add insult to injury, the houses here DO NOT have central heating. No wonder Francine bought those two little stoves!

Melbourne reminds me a lot of England. The street signs, the people, the reddish- brown brick,... if it were not for the accent (and the cold) I could believe I was 12 again, on my way to a Camp Beaumont summer camp. Architecturally it is really interesting: old buildings and brick churches stand side by side with glamorous new glass and concrete high-risers. With the abundance of English bakeries, quaint French cafés and traditional pubs I can best describe it as “cosy”.

Making an effort to be a good tourist (and get out of the house), we took a guided tour of the Rod Laver stadium, home to the Australian Open. The most interesting room was, as you can imagine, the Men’s locker room! All nice brown wood and cream leather sofas. As true Swiss, we took a picture of Roger Federer’s (and Nadal’s) locker. As soon as the guide’s back was turned, I took a dip in the Men’s Jacuzzi... (no water, of course!).

We went out to Rye for the weekend. Was nice to be out of the city and get a feel for the countryside. The views and beaches were amazing. The area (Mornington Peninsula) is also packed with wineries, so we enjoyed a very liquid Sunday lunch on our way back... bliss!

Met up with Jess, an Emergency Nurse I had met travelling in Hanoi and then again in Bangkok. After a tour of the ER (could never work there!) we went out for a (surprisingly) good pizza and then on to the Casino for some nightlife.

Singapore

We are now in Melbourne. It is freezing cold and not a day goes by that we do not curse the (almost) universal absence of central heating.

Mark arrived safe and sound in Bangkok. On the taxi ride in, he lost to time declaring that his main interests were eating and shopping. No surprise there. We rose early the next day and after the obligatory sightseeing we hit the malls. His disappointment over having wait two months before he can actually buy stuff (we have 2 days in BKK before we fly back to CH) was soon dispelled by ample amounts of chocolate milkshake and satay.

Now after Manuel’s bad experience with Thai massages, Mark was intrigued but wary of this widely renowned manipulation. Luckily enough, I had discovered a place that offered an amazing foot & Thai massage some weeks earlier with Jess (Australian girl). As it was raining, I led him there.
We had the place to ourselves, so there we lay, side by side, with these tiny Thai women twisting us this way and that. Now at the beginning he was fine, joking away, until they started on his legs (the massage began with a foot massage). Suddenly he got progressively paler. On alarmed inquiry if he was alright, all he could manage was a strangled (and slightly hysterical) “yes”. After a while, it got to the point that he looked like he was praying! But he was alright in the end. The next day he actually claimed that he felt really good! Phew! A weight off my mind! That’s the last time I pull such a trick on him!

Just as we were getting bored with Bangkok (it kept raining), we found ourselves on a plane off to Singapore. Aunt Dolly and Uncle Edmund met us at the airport. Just like when we were young! J We had already switched into Singapore mode, which means “food, give us food”. And eat we did! From satay, to carrot cake (white radish omelette) and chilli crab we stuffed ourselves to the brim. Lovely! Uncle Edmund wowed us with his skills at the pool table and karaoke bar. Aunt Dolly took me out shopping and we made a beeline for semi-precious stones... great protection for the traveller!

The next night we saw the Pereira family: Richard and Christine picked us up and took us to the East coast, where we marvelled at an automatic wakeboard training lake. Dionne & Calvin with the two little rascals joined us, with Cara and her boyfriend. Food, food, glorious food soon appeared on the tables. After checking out the Singapore nightlife with Cara, we spent the night at Dionne’s place and were treated to sushi for breakfast and a demonstration of Calvin’s anti-snore device.

Thank you all for your generous hospitality!

Lombok, Bali, Bangkok

I'm back (home) in Suvarnabhumi International Airport (Bangkok). Waiting for my darling brother to arrive in a couple of hours.
They seem to be waiting for royalty or some sports team in the arrival area: everything is cordoned off and masses of police are strutting around in orderly fashion. Doing their best to get in the way of emotional homecomings, not to mention my unwieldy cart. Tss, tss!

Mark and I will be spending two nights in Bangkok - one day for shopping and one for sightseeing (no prizes on guessing which day he will prefer) - before we fly down to Singapore for a few days. Beware dear relatives, the Swiss posse is coming to town!

But I left you just before leaving for Lombok....
I am afraid that I will have to continue my raving, because so far, Lombok was one of the best places I have been to! Didn't expect it after Ubud, to be honest, but surprises seem to lurk around every corner!
Spent one week soaking up the beauty of empty beaches, black sand and clear green waters before I went back to Bali to join a friend.

At 6am I said goodbye to everyone in the losmen with a heavy heart (they were all up and about, their day usually starts at 5am) and boarded the local bus which would take me to the port at Padang Bai.
We had to wait for over an hour, before we could board the public ferry. The first ferry of the day had been late, so in consequence all ferries were subject to heavy delay (after seeing the difficulty certain huge trucks had getting on and off the delays were fully understandable!).
To pass the time I chatted to the locals selling all kinds of snacks (thank goodness no fried tarantulas!) and was told I am 'gado-gado', that is 'mixed'. As gado-gado (veggies with peanut sauce) is one of my favorite Indonesian dishes I thought the term quite fitting!

Took a bus to Senggigi. (Un-)Fortunately the bus driver forgot to drop me off at a strategic point as agreed. Luckily there were no further passengers, so he was so kind as to drive me all the way back to her place as a way of apology. Yes! My backpack is now 18kg...

On the way we got caught up in a wedding procession. Bride and groom were on their way to their new house, which turned out to be a shack. From their get up however, you would never have thought that they were so poor... all rich clothes and a huge crowd (ca. 80pax) not counting the numerous musicians. The driver told me that weddings are so important that families generally go all out (as far as possible) to create a magical day, irregardless of the cost.

My Internet time is running out... so here a short version of what came next:
1. Senggigi was beautiful.
Met a photo-journalist who took us around the Northeastern corner and saw fantastic landscape, jungle, monkeys (so tame they eat out of your hand - yes, family, i have had a rabies shot!), many empty beaches with sparkling black sand and clear green waters.

2. Took the boat over to Gili Air, a beautiful place where there are no dogs, no scooters and no cars. People get around by horse and cart (as they also do on the mainland) or walking. Was invited on a tour of the three Gili islands for free (yippee!) and saw huge turtles. Spent the evenings on the beach in a hammock with Australians... still don't like beer.

3. Didn't get over to Kuta, Lombok as time was running out. Went back to Kuta, Bali instead and this time with the help of Marine (she lived in Bali for a year - we met in Cambodia) and Arie (local woman) I really enjoyed it. They took me off the beaten track to more secluded beaches and we feasted on fresh fish and local Balinese cuisine at night.

As soon as I manage to get more credit I'll post a few pics.

Bali

I have finally managed to muster enough motivation to look at a computer again. What a strange feeling. Going from Internet-aholic to complete disinterest in a matter of days! Quite surprised myself.

Bali, or to be precise, Ubud has bewitched me. With each day that passes it's spell gains a stronger hold. Why, you ask? It has no beach, is in the middle of the island, why am I unable to move from this tiny town?
Well, first of all, the surroundings are absolutely stunning: lush green rice paddies, palm trees and bamboo rustling in the wind, artists work spilling out of their studios, cute children playing in the streets, laughing locals in their colourful native dress... Combine that with an abundance of fresh and organic food, (I feasted on fresh salads for the first two days after all those rice soups and fried noodles!) and fantastic accommodation: intimate bungalows or losmen (home stays - you stay in the family compound), it equates to = my paradise!
And what is more, they import the most delicious Australian wine!

However rewind, rewind... I forgot that I haven't been keeping you up to date!

I flew in to Bali with Singapore airlines and just LOVED every minute - they are pure airline luxury. Spent an enjoyable journey chatting to a South African couple on the way to their honeymoon. Now Manuel and I had constantly being quoting Leo's SA accent from the film "Blood Diamond" in Cambodia. So it was quite intriguing to hear a real SA accent. (And apparently Leo's accent wasn't THAT good...)

Now the original reason for my going to Bali was to enjoy some sun, fun and beach. Therefore, I made my way directly to Kuta, a fast-paced surfer town, where the vampires come out to play.
Tired, I crashed into bed and rose early, intent on exploring. As I wasn't all that happy with my room, I decided to go check out possible alternatives. A few of disappointments later, I grumpily decided to accost other travellers in the hopes that they'd have good tip or two. Spying a girl a few meters further up the road, I had my first victim. "Yes", she said, after I had made my intentions clear. She knew of a good place and offered to take me there. CHF 5.- for a clean room, pool and private bathroom. Sounded good. What sounded even better, was, that she was staying there in a twin room and would I like to share? Of course I jumped at the chance and as fortune has it, I made a really good friend.

By the end of the day I was not enjoying Kuta as much as I expected to. The narrow roads lined with over-enthusiastic touts (Darling, how are you, you buy.... you look inside) were not part of the peaceful beach life I had imagined. Nor were the masses of tourists (it is holiday season in Jakarta at the moment) and the many western cafes and shops. Sarah was planning to move up to Ubud the next day, so I invited myself along for the ride.

A bemo (mini bus) dropped us off somewhere in Ubud and almost immediately we were accosted by two touts offering accommodation. "Thank goodness there are only two," we thought, reassured that Bali's Artist capital (Denpasar is the islands capital city) would provide us with a peaceful haven. The first night was quite an adventure. We were too tired to go look for a room, so we followed one tout and took the cleanest room available. Having dumped our stuff, we wandered up the street and found a really cute cafe. Weary, we went in for some reviving lemongrass tea. In Bali, most shops, cafes, etc. are situated on the land of the family compound to reduce cost. The owner was really nice and let it slip that she has two rooms that she rents out. As we were so impressed by the simplistic beauty of the cafe, I nearly fell over myself in my haste to see the room. It was absolutely beautiful. Clean, huge, and comparatively cheap! We booked it instantly for the next few nights.

A Balinese family compound is comprised of the family temple (symbolising the head of the family / body), the north house (where the elders live), the east house (in our case the guest house) and the kitchen (the lowest part / the foot of the house). Most losmen (= home stays) have just two rooms to rent, which makes it a very intimate and interesting setting. Everything is very open and you can observe them going about their business, cooking the daily fare in the morning (they only cook once and then its for the whole day), praying in the family temple, playing with the kids, making offerings, etc. a real insight into their daily life.

Another interesting point is their names.
All Balinese, regardless of their sex, have one of the following names, depending on their birth order:
The first born is either Wayan, Putu or Nengah. Second born are named Kadek or Made. Then the third born are Nyoman, Ika or Kamang and fourth born Ketut. If they have five children, they start again with the names of the first born.
According to Kadek, the owner of my losmen, they have "family planning" nowadays and there are rarely more than two children per family.

The children generally live with their parents until they marry. Then the wife moves into the family of the husband. Unless her family has no male offspring. In that case, it can happen that the husband relocates to the wife's family compound.

Sarah was only going to be in Bali for a couple more days, so we decided to do the fast paced sightseeing tour and hire Kadek as our driver. It was absolutely stunning going round the island, seeing monkeys, waterfalls, lush scenery and a sunset at Tanah Lot temple (the southern most tip of the island). Feeling in the mood for adventure, we decided to climb Mt Batur (a more or less extinct volcano) to see the sunrise. That meant leaving at 3am to be able to start climbing at 4am. It was quite steep going up dark windy paths and with hardly any sleep (no, white wine did NOT make me tired!). We stumbled along like sleepwalkers. Actually, that is the best way to describe us! However we reached the top with nothing more than a few bruises and scratches - luckily it was just past full moon, so we didn't have to rely solely on the fading torches. The view was magnificent and our guide made hard boiled eggs and baked bananas in the smoking earth for breakfast. Yummy!

In the evening we met Andrea, an American psychologist cum tarot card reader. She read us our fortunes and I was quite pleased with mine ;-) Anyhow, she retired to Senggigi, Lombok a few years ago and has invited me over.
So tomorrow I will leave this lovely city and continue my journey on to Lombok, where I will first enjoy Andrea's hospitality in Senggigi, before making my way up to the Gilli islands (beautiful!). Ideally I will stay there for a few days and then make my way back over to Lombok and down south, to Kuta (Lombok). Confusingly enough there is a Kuta on both Bali and Lombok). This Kuta is supposed to be undeveloped paradise; pure beach, sun and peace.