Where were we 15 yrs ago? Indonesia on a 7 week trip starting with a train ride from home to Zaventum Belgium. Great train ride but if you are carrying luggage for 7 weeks you get the picture. But okay a small hernia later we caught a flight to Singapore - where we stayed in a 3-star hotel feeling like we were doing a 5 star trip. This is where I learned that tipping someone who then carries your stuff is a win-win!!!!We enjoyed my first Nasi Rames for breakfast in Jakarta where we stayed for 2 days with Maureens wonderful family. Then it was onto Bogor (Maureen's birth city) where it took Maureen 10 days to show the white guy around the family. Once everyone had seen 'blondie' we jumped on a 29 hrs bus ride to reach Bali, where we crawled out of the bus and were asking for mercy... no more long bus rides for us! In Bali we had a great time touring the tempels, beaches, and so on.
We followed this up with a snorkling tour to Lombok Sengigi beach. At this time we just wanted to eat hamburgers and be on the beach all the time. As we made our way back through Java we had no preparation anymore and just winged it as it came. We touched the Buddha's on Yogyakarta and toured the rice fields, we went from city to city using trains and busses seeing the cites, meeting friends wherever we went. The grand finale was a 5 day trip to Pulau Seribu (Thousand Islands) where a boat dropped us off and we just snorkled for 5 days eating nothing but fish. For breakfast, for lunch and for dinner...We now look back and think... what were we thinking to travel for 7 weeks at age 20/21 .. we could have been killed for $50!!!, or how the heck did we ever manage to get 7 weeks off from school and work???, who 'financed' this trip since I was in school then and Maureen had a minimal wage job???... I calculated it back and it seems we spend USD 4,500 for 7 weeks including the flights/hotels etc... how come it was so cheap??? and most of all... which lunatik convinced us to take a 29hr bus ride?
Anyway Indonesia is a great country and I hope that one day we can take our kids with us to enjoy the wonders the 6,000 islands has to offer.
2 comments:
I *love* this post. You two are so cute! I love the rickshaw photo and the one of you walking down the beach at the end.
Warm regards to you and your family.
Best,
Jody
hahaha you look like dorks, don't ya miss the 80's
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