Indonesia: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly

Wow, what a week it was to be back in Indonesia... back in 2012, I wrote a blog entry for Luang Prabang, Laos and titled it "The Goods, the Bad, & the Ugly" - well, my week in Indo was just about the same as that, so this is the 2.0 version.

Arriving in Bali

The flight I took from Hong Kong to Bali was about 5 hours, and there was no moon in sight. I figured, might this be a good time to try and play with some astrophotography, now that I have my new camera? Turns out, it was incredible, despite being a bit shaky since our plane was moving. It made me ponder over the vastness of this universe and how small we are, and how sights like this are so rare to find. I pressed my camera against the glass with the window half closed, just enough to fit the lens through, and covered the rest with my sweater to shield more light from coming in, and this was the spectacular view into the beyond... Category: Good.

The next best part about arriving back in Bali was actually getting picked up by my really good friend taxi driver from last year's trip, Ketut! It was so good to see him again, and this time he had much long hair! But there was a reason for this: "My wife is expecting!"

"What do you mean??"
"In Bali, it is good luck for the parents to not cut their hair until baby is born."
So cool !!! His baby is due in December. This would be so cool if this were a tradition in the states. He and I chatted for a long time in his taxi, talked about the year we had... He was so nice and gave me a good deal with his friend to transport me over to the Gili Islands in a few days. Category: So good.

Canggu, Bali

This was my first stop, and was a place I visited for a day last year but was told it would be a great place to unwind and relax. It truly was that, and I made sure that it was a stay where I would only nourish myself of super healthy foods, freshly squeezed smoothies, and reflective writing. Category: Good, just what I needed.

This is actually in Seminyak, a place called "Shelter Bali" - I would go back just for this place. NYC needs this restaurant and everything on its menu

I even went ahead and tried some more adventurous foods during my stay, which included eating LIZARD on a skewer - it actually tasted really good, flavored like pork but just chewier. 

I had no idea that this was also going on, but for the few days that I was in Canggu, this was also the same exact time that the annual Street Art Festival was taking place in Bali, and happening right in Canggu... I did not plan for this at all, but wow it was awesome!!! For 3-4 days, artists from all over the world come in to openly paint, spray-paint, or install their artwork throughout this giant warehouse area in the middle of Canggu. Visitors can come in to watch artists at work any time and then admire the finished product. The week also has lots of parties to celebrate the artists' achievements. It was so cool to see these enormous murals coming to life, and then sometimes, once an artist had gone on the first day and was ready to part ways with his/her art, their work would be painted over for the next artist to share their vision. It was soooo cool to see this all. And lazing on a black sand beach as well was a highlight, black from the ash of nearby volcanoes, watching locals fly the giant Indonesian kites. It was a satisfying welcome-back to Bali. Category: Awesome.

This was just one of many... they were all amazing though

(trying to upload more pictures now but grrr.... not working)

Gili Islands

This was another place I went to last year and HAD to go back to because of its crystal clear waters and amazing sunshine and seatime. I couldn't be sure that my time in the Philippines would have any sunshine at all, because it's Typhoon season over there, so I knew that no matter what, going to the Gilis would be a good idea. Or would it?

We all got on the fast boat which was meant to take about 2 hours to the island. The locals on the boat were playing some great music, passing around a few beers. I sat on the top of the boat because inside I get a little seasick if I don't feel the wind on my face or see the horizon. After the first hour on top of the boat, I decide to have a beer. I am so happy at this point and ready to enjoy the beach time on the island, I was ready to go out and dance, I was ready for it all, I finished my cold beer, and then we arrived.

I got up and then suddenly saw spots everywhere - I figured I had gotten up too soon so I turned my head upside down. Then I stood up again, and the feeling came back... I felt better sitting down, but then I couldn't sit still, like I wanted to topple over, but I wasn't drunk. I tried to get up again 3 more times, with great difficulty, and wondered maybe let me get downstairs in the shade. The whole interior of the boat was fading in and out of my vision and I had to collapse on one of the seats. The line kept moving but I waited to be at the back of the line. I got up again, white flashes everywhere, and then, feelings of confusion. That's when I started to get really concerned. What was happening to me? I tried to get off this boat but could not walk beyond three steps every time without feeling the need to totally collapse on the floor. I drank some water, it didn't help. I tried taking deep breaths, all my body seemed to want to do was pass out, but I had to get off this boat, as my luggage was already thrown off onto the beach's shore with everyone else's. Everything is spinning, I can't see much, and I can't keep myself up. I hold onto the seats and drag myself to the exit. The captain sees me and asks, "are you ok?" I say "no." He helps carry me off the boat, along with others, it takes so much concentration for me to climb down the boat's ladder, I almost collapse into the water. All I'm trying to do at this point is find my backpack. I spot it 20 feet away. I zigzag walk, the sun is burning, pushing me down into the sand, and I collapse onto my backpack, breathing heavily. The heat pounds down onto me that it forces me to stay put where I am, sprawled over my backpack as though it was a pillow. That's when a few british girls asked me if I was ok, I told them "no, I think it's heat exhaustion or dehydration," They give me some water and carry me off the beach and immediately into the shade. I could not walk on my own, and all I could feel were the grips of hands carrying my arms as my feet barely stepped through the sand. I am so confused at this point, I don't even know how to speak properly. Part of my head was even twitching, I just wanted it all to go away. Then locals told me to not move, and instead they brought me inside this little office space where there was a mat on the floor and they told me to rest. I drank water and passed out. Before I knew it, 2 hours had gone by... It dawned on me once I finally arrived safe and sound hours later that really what had happened was a borderline heat stroke, if not a very serious case of heat exhaustion. It was so hot without me even knowing it, because of how strong the winds were on the boat. But the sun was hitting harder than I could feel, and then, with the one beer I had, it raised my temperature more (because of my "asian glow" problem), so my temperature was probably approaching 105 degrees and I might have needed to be hospitalized if I spent any longer out in the sun. It was so scary, especially the confusion part, not understanding how to function or speak, I felt helpless. It was a weird way to begin my week in paradise. Category: Bad.

I rested up the entire day and kept hydrating. That was one of the scariest things to ever happen to me! And everyone else on the boat seemed fine. Why? I didn't understand that... thankfully, the rest of my stay in the Gili islands didn't have any more waves of heat exhaustion hit, but I felt like every once in a while there were remnants of small twitches/ticks that would occur in my eyes.

After I got better, my stay was beautiful and it was the first time my whole trip where I went out for some amazing nights of good partying and dancing, including the boat party I did last year as well. I made some good friends too, nearly all of them were teachers! And we bonded over the teacher lifestyle, its perks, and challenges. 

A capture from the boat party!

Another really really beautiful part of this week, not just the gorgeous coral-colored sunsets and the bright turquoise waters, were the talks I had with these fellow teacher travelers. I had so many deep talks about fate, coincidence, our capacity to feel emotions, examine them, learn from them. These talks were also shared on the beach at night under moonlight, laying down with our backs in the sand and our feet close enough to the shore that with every gentle wave that crashed our feet would get wet just up to our ankles before the wave would disappear again, leaving tons of sparkling bioluminscence around us once it retreated back. We talked to the starlit sky, the shy milky way hiding from the brightness of the moon, as we counted 10+ shooting stars in moments of pause between our talks. These were the moments to remember. Category: Back to amazing.

The last sunset

The amazing, unreal water

It was a good idea in the end to have made it back here in Indonesia, which still feels like my favorite country overall. But the final chapter needed to start, which was the Philippines. I was scheduled to leave the Gili islands at 3PM that day to catch a very late, 1:30AM flight the same day. This turned into a complete nightmare, and a near 48-hour commute...

Leaving Gili...

So I was supposed to catch a 3pm boat, arrive back on bali island at 5pm, take a 2 hour taxi arrive at the airport by 7pm, plenty of time. I wake up to the news that all boats to bali are canceled due to severe waves. The only alternative was to take a boat to Lombok (another island, 1 hr), transfer to a bus (2 hrs) to a different ferry terminal and take a slow ferry (4 hours) back to bali, before taking the taxi to the airport (2 hrs). I still had time for this, because if I left right away (it was 12PM) that would make me arrive at the airport by 10PM probably. Well, I couldn't get any refund for my roundtrip from before, so I had to pay all over again for the Lombok transfer, and then our bus driver got lost 3 times (had to u-turn 3 times), and then the ferry itself was a bigger nightmare... this was the worst. Everyone was packed like sardines, trying to shuffle past each other to board the ferries. One ferry pulled in and barely took any people when there was so much space. It left right away. Everyone formed a line along this narrow boardwalk to get on, but once they cut people off, suddenly the end of the boardwalk (people who would be next) became the back of the line, because the new ferry was on a different boardwalk. So I was now at the back of the line again. Finally after about 2 hours of stalling, we get on the new ferry. It does not leave right away like the previous one did, it stays idle for 2 more hours. We didn't leave the harbor until after the sun set. It was 6pm? Then the ferry ride itself was 6.5 hours instead of 4. At one point the ferry also stayed idle because it was dark, and I watched it on my GPS, it was not going the right way. Everyone is telling me I won't make it now. Then we finally arrive and it is midnight. People were trying to get off this ferry like it was the titanic, I accidentally hit a little girl in the head with my bag and the mom yelled "YOU HIT MY DAUGHTER" and everyone was so frazzled and I was in such a mess because I was telling everyone I had a flight to catch. I had to squeeze past huge trucks parked in the first floor of the ferry, the storage cabin - hearing the mom say "this is impossible!! how do we get out of here!!" and I'm there, with my bag, which gets stuck and covered in dirt as I shimmy in between these 18-wheelers. It truly felt like we were all trying to escape the Titanic. We finally get out, but I think there is no way now that I will make my flight, I will miss it. Couldn't believe that I left the island at 12PM and manage to miss a 1:30AM flight. So I give up and try to find the nearest hotel. Closed, everywhere fully booked, I get redirected to one that is open but then there is no one at reception. I waste a half hour walking with a dead cell phone trying to find a place that has rooms available and someone who is awake. Eventually I give up and decide maybe it's best for me to go straight to the airport and see what can be done. I get to the airport at 1:55AM, "last call" flashing on the screen for my flight, it's too late. The people at the check-in counter were of no help at all, I'm begging for a refund because it was due to weather conditions that I missed my flight. They were like 'oh you need it in writing from the boat company that there were boats canceled" and i was like........ do you REALLY think you would ever approve a hand-written letter from the boat companies here? HAVE you ever evenSEEN a TYPED letter outlining something like this before? and they were like, "no.... you are right." So even the people of Bali airport airlines have no idea how to go around this. I call Chase to see if I can get a refund, and the first annoyance hits: "This call is not toll free if called overseas, you will have full international charges" - this is a credit card meant to help travelers, and the only number they provide for filing claims and discussing flight refunds is a number you can only call from the states? What the hell is that? So then I'm placed on hold forever, thinking of the amount of money this might cost. And then transfers, "please hold"s, and then chase card representatives too are asking for documentation, "a photograph of the storm". Are you kidding me, these are ocean waves not typhoons. What is wrong with these people doing their jobs??? She then explained I needed documentation of this, confirmation from the airline that they can't give me a refund, proof that I was not on the plane, etc, etc, etc, I got so fed up with trying to file claims, trying to get a new flight, etc - so I missed my flight and had to pay a full airline price for a flight leaving at 8AM. I did not sleep, at all. Had to take 2 flights to finally make it to Puerto Princesa - my layover was over 5 hours long and, even with my lounge pass, I was denied entry into the lounge because here apparently it was ONLY for international flights. I told them I was desperate for a computer. It's all I need, please let me in, I have 5 hours. I have the card! They tried to help me, floor 3 staff directed me to floor 4, floor 4 staff directed me back to floor 3 staff, it was never ending, I broke down finally when one woman kept saying "sorry we can't let you into the lounge to use a computer" because I was having the worst 24 hours, she called lots of people to see what she could do, but no one allowed me in, DESPITE my membership. I was ready to quit the whole day and all of life at this point, and then along the way to my final flight I kept getting cut by families who had no regard for what it means to queue in an orderly line, literally one of those rude families RUNNING to be in front of me. I said "are you kidding me?" etc, etc - tried to stay calm. Finally, I arrive at puerto princesa at 10PM where I got scammed by the tricycle driver who tried to charge me 250 pesos for a ride that shouldn't have been more than 80-100. And then, I developed a leaky faucet post-nasal-drip catastrophy for days, and a fever throughout my Puerto Princesa stay. Category: Ugly.

Where I am Now

I'm in El Nido, one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. It's been a much, MUCH better week. I think one thing that I've learned from this trip, our attitude and mental peace or imbalance truly affects our physical health. I really believe that. I am way more excited to write about my time in the Philippines, which has already proven to be magical.