Today is the last day of my “twenties” and yesterday I watched a movie called “7 things to do before I’m 30″. The character made a list of these 7 things while she was still a teenager and 1 month before her 30th birthday she finds the list and realizes she hasn’t done anything of that, so she starts running after those things.
It’s a crap movie, don’t waste your time watching it, but it was inevitable for me to wonder what I’d have put on my own list, if I had done one, and if I’d have been able to do everything I wanted to do until.. uhm.. today.

I tried but could not remember of anything that I would have done but I did not. Instead, when I think how my twenties were, I see a decade much richer in events than I would imagine back then.
It was a decade full of experiments, I would say. Experiments of all sorts, with the body, with the mind, with the heart, with life.

It was during my 20 years that I graduated in Design, after putting Uni on “stand by mode” 3 times and almost quitting, my dad insisting and after some fights with him I finally finished it. Fathers are always right!
It was also during my twenties that I had my first real boyfriend, and was still in the twenties, 9 years later, that I married him. Myself, that never thought would ever get married…

I bought my first car, opened two businesses, my life and work became the same thing, employees, big clients, and when the professional side began to show good results, it was the personal side that spoke louder. I sold everything I had, I left home and moved from Brazil to New Zealand. That island in the corner of the world map, where they speak a language different than mine, where it’s cheaper to buy another car but much more expensive to buy food. Where I discovered how it feels to miss the ones I love without necessarily being sad and to walk on the streets without fear.

This was also the decade that someone threatened me with a gun pointed to my head, only to steal my bag, and that I spent one day in jail, arrested.
That I jumped, only the parachute and I, in the center of Curitiba - something that is prohibited for students nowadays. This after spending the whole night at a rave party. And talking about parties, this was the decade that I also spent a week camping in an electronic music festival at Chapada dos Veadeiros, centre of Brazil, and in another one at a tiny island in Rio de Janeiro - the best party I’ve ever been.

It was on my twenty and something that for the first time in my life I could sit cross-legged as an Indian, after taking another decision that would change my life: a surgery to put a hip prosthesis.

And it was during the last of these twenty years, closing them with a golden key, that a dream that didn’t even know I had came true and I spent half a year traveling the world. Seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling, knowing, trying to understand, experiencing.

Surely this post forgot many other important things (or just didn’t want to tell hehe), things that some people will read and remember. Ah, these people that I learned to recognize as the most important thing in life!

No, definitely I don’t have a list of things I missed doing before I’m 30. I’ve even thought of creating a list of things to do before I’m 40… another trip around the world, what else… but thinking again, this is nonsense!
Living is the best way to make things happen, and I hope the next decade will be just like the last one, full of delightful surprises.

I don’t want to know how tomorrow will be, only when it comes I’ll be able to tell what is like to be a woman in her thirties.

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When we left Bali we were happy, lighter and more tan than when we arrived, with the peace of the certainty that we are coming back to this magical place someday.

Felipe with his collection of injuries: the bike accident that yielded an infection, the board that cut his head and a “Bali kiss” - common burning on the bike’s exhaust pipe. People say he probably had a “karma” with the island, I think that after all the debt must be paid! Another theory is that he’s already used his whole “quota of bad luck” of the trip during this single month, so from now on it will be all about joy! I like this second one… and I hope that my “quota of bad luck” doesn’t exist. hehe

I leave with my new passion, which later, in Brazil, my friend Carlos explained that there is nothing new about it, this love story is old, and that makes me even more delighted.

During the last week we spent in the Bukit we realized that the majority of surfers who come to Bali leave the airport direct to Ulu Watu or Padang Padang, they spend one, two months surfing here and return home without knowing Bali. We saw and heard many Brazilians and Australians, speaking different languages but wearing the same brands and behaving in similar ways.

I am happy we’ve had a different experience though, I’m happy to have by my side a surfer that came to Indonesia dreaming about it’s waves but also loved spending an entire week in the incredible Ubud, far from the sea.
And crazy about the beach that I am, I was surprised to see that despite the heat and the turquoise blue sea, the beach is not the best of Bali. I’ve learned two things that I didn’t even know that existed before: the language and a kind of energy that makes you wake up at  6am smiling every day.

It was an incredible month. We thank Aline and Luiz for receiving us in Sanur and for all their help and tips! The company of Pasqual and Ale was more than special all the time, without them it wouldn’t have been the same. If I already knew I loved these two before, now I love them even more.

We left Bali with the feeling that one month was the ideal time. We are willing to get the plane toward the next destination.
The trip to Singapore was not part of the “Round the World” package, and the cheapest fare we found was with Jetstar Asia - US$ 130 each - a 2hs only flight, the plane was old, with leather seats that were everything but comfortable and no snacks, but it was 10pm and I was so tired that I slept all the time anyway.

**Tip: you must pay a departure tax of 150k rupees at the airport. We had already passed through the  police x-ray and everything when we found out and Felipe had to leave the airport to get the money from an ATM.

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Before going on with the stories of our round the world trip I’m going to quickly update where we are now and what we have been doing.

We’ve been back in Wellington (NZ) for two and a half months but we are so settled that it feels like we’ve been here for longer!

During the first week, still on holidays, we could enjoy a little bit of what had remained from Summer and went to the beach.  But just after that Winter rushed and passed over Fall.  That Fall, which generally is great in Wellington, dry, sunny and not so windy simply did not exist this year… the Winter came with everything, strong freezing winds and rain, a lot of rain.  I confess that this has been a bit depressing lately.

We’ve already rented a house (which I love!), I am back to the my old job and Felipe’s started at a new job… with that we’ve fallen in the routine home-work-home… what sometimes can be quite boring, specially after living 7 months without any routine.

We still haven’t got a car, but whenever it’s possible we rent one and flee somewhere around for a little change of landscape, mostly we go to Wairarapa, where Fê and Otávio go surfing.

Ah, Otávio is Felipe’s brother (and oficially my brother-in-law now.. hehe), he’s been living with us for one and a half month, what’s being really nice.
He arrived during Easter holidays, we went to Auckland to pick him up and drove in a “road-tour” across the North Island which I am going to tell and publish some photos over here afterwards.

He’s and oceanographer and next month he’ll leave us for a six months internship on construction of artificial reefs in other New Zealand cities.

We’ve already been able to see everything we were missing in NZ, to see our friends that live here and to start itching again for planning the next trip.
But wait, before that I’m going to finish telling what happened in the last one.  :)

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Pit stop in Ubud

Before arriving in Bukit we spent one day in Ubud. We surfed in the morning on the east coast of Bali again with perfect waves up to 6ft, there we met Diogo and Luís who had the car running out of petrol and we had to help them, after that we went back to the crazy Ubud’s market to buy some more crafts. The other day in the morning we were heading to Sanur, but stopped in Celuk which is the city of silver in Bali to buy some jewellery.

Flat tire on the way to Bukit

Arriving near Sanur our tire got flat again in a place without much civilization, we were pushing the bike to a little wooden house that appeared to be a mechanic workshop or a mini market there were some Balinese there, they were some big guys with no shirt, with the whole body tattooed, looking not very friendly, none of them spoke English and our Bahasa Indonesia was not sufficient for explaining the situation, and with the sign language we were trying to make us understood, I pointed the tire and pressed it, they looked at me and talked to each other in Bahasa and we couldn’t understand each other, Pasqual decided to seek a mechanic while we should wait there, but soon one of them told him to stay quiet there and don’t leave, we were quite concerned and we weren’t understanding what was happening. But then one of the big guys took the phone from his pocket and made a sign for us to sit. We assumed that he was calling a mechanic or something and we chose to wait.

The ninja mechanic.

On 15 minutes came a middle-aged Balinese in a little motorbike, while we tried to “talk” to him the other Balinese guys were having fun taking pictures with the girls, they were like movie stars there. Once the mechanic was taking the tools and the tire was stowed in the midst of this we saw the balinese guys running the other way and coming down the road carrying the structure of a house of two rooms, and others were coming for help, the structure at times seemed that would fall apart, and for a few minutes I was watching that scene without understanding what they were doing, once they crossed the road carrying the house it was more difficult to bring the house to the floor that was about 3 meters below the road and at that time the house really seemed that was going to disassemble, everyone ran for help and not understanding anything I was following the flow to give them a hand and soon the house was standing on it’s place, they thanked me and I went back to see how was the mechanic and he was cutting the chamber of an old tire with his ninja techniques and rim and covering the entire inside of the wheel, he exchanged the chamber that was punctured put everything in place and filled up the tire in 15 minutes all without getting up.

Mechanic coming where we were: 40.000RP / 4 USD

With everything new we rearranged the bags at Luís’ home and left with the bikes to Bukit in the chaos of the bypass, the main means of access to the south of the island, at night we arrived at The Gong, a Balinese family homestay with good rooms and a beautiful garden.

Daily: 90,000 RP / 9 USD per room.

Dinner: Curry or Mie Goreng RP ~ 25,000 / USD 2.50

First Day

In the morning of the next day we got to know the famous waves of the region, Ulu Watu, Padang Padang, Bingin, Impossibles and a wonderful view from the top of a cliff, when we arrived unfortunately the tidal waves were small and dry and we could not see all the peaks working with all intensity but was cool to see the coral reef all exposed. We went back to the homestay for a breakfast. We left the girls at Padang Padang, a beach which is a quieter for bathers with sandy bottom and not many big breaking waves, the famous wave of this beach breaks at a cliff far away behind the beach.

We surfed Ulu Watu, and being the first day I was very concerned, even with waves of up to 5 feet (this is very small there), plus the amount of people in the water, something around 70 to 90 people, and the best waves at least 10 padling, it took me some time to enter into this competitive spirit, but soon I was relaxing, finding my space and taking opportunities. Surfing with this crowd even in the easy waves of Ulu Watu can be stressful, a lot of people padling in your wave, moving unintentionally or deliberately, still the wave itself compensates, and even without much size the wave is strong and can have a long ride.

Breakfast: pancakes and juice ~ 25000 RP / USD 2.50

After the surf we went to Yeye’s, a restaurant with a Balinese environment but at the same time towards surfers, we spent the rest of the afternoon from Bintang to Bintang until the sunset.

Balangan

At breakfast the other day we met “Alemão”, a Catarinense (Brazilian from Santa Catarina) who lives in Perth but is now returning with his girlfriend Ana to Brazil. They gave us the hint to go Balangan therefore there was a nice beach for the girls, most the beaches of Bukit have coral bottom and a small part of sand, when it has any. As this day was the worst of swell, so we decided to enjoy a day at the beach.

The place is really excellent, full of bungalows on the coast with restaurants and inns in the sand and several hammocks with sun umbrellas, as it was low season we got the deck chair for free in exchange for making all our requests  of the restaurant that owned the chairs.

The waves were small, up to 3ft but worth the fun. After the surf we got back under the beach umbrella, had lunch and when the tide dropped the reef was dried out the water and we went for a walk to know better the nearby coral and saw the rich marine life.

Ulu Watu, now with some swell

The next day there was a good swell in Ulu Watu with waves up to 6ft height, this day we spent a long time in the water and had lunch at Padang Padang Inn, which is called “The Brazilian embassy” in Bali, we ate a “beef acebolado” (Brazilian style steak with onions) for those who miss Brazilian food and if the attendants were not speaking Bahasa indonesia it could be a Brazilian restaurant.

Bingin / Impossibles

This day was really amazing, blue sky, a gentle breeze and waves of 8ft with bigger sets, Bingin was packed of people and we fall into the inside of Impossibles which was more spread out than Bingin. We surfed for a couple of hours and had lunch againg in Padang Padang Inn. After lunch we stopped to have a look at Padang Padang  and it was striking, with 8 feet and incredible barrels, boats with photographers, many people in the water, many broken boards, and some seriously injured surfers. We were there looking for almost an hour but in the end we tought that it was too risky and we went back to Impossibles, but now at the outside, which was very intense.

Balangan with swell

Our last surf day in the Bukit was excellent, perfect waves of 8 feet plus, and scattered crowd. Got good waves, and at the end of the afternoon before I left, the waves had a considerable drop for up to 6 feet and I decided to go for my farewell surf session, after around 5 waves, I fell in a barrel and poke just taking the fin on my head, it hurted and I was worried, I put my hand on my head to see if it was bleeding and it was, I did not know the gravity, but I was fully conscious and decided to leave immediately if I had to go to the  hospital. As soon as I left the water I asked Cris to have a look and for my relief it was only a superficial cut. We went home to make a dressing.

The last Indo days and the foot infection.

The next morning I felt a pain in the groin, symptom that I had been warned could be a sign of infection, as my foot had not healed I decided it was time to go to the doctor and handle it properly. But before I had to dispose of my boards, because taking them to Morocco, our likely next destination for surfing, would be extremely expensive and laborious. As everything in Indonesia is very cheap I knew they would not pay much. I got PR 2 000 000 / 200 USD on two boards, one that had been broken in half and another that was in good condition.

From there we went to Sanur, on the way we stopped at BIMC hospital that is specialized in the foreign service with doctors who speak English, then the doctor confirmed that my foot was really infected, I took injections of antibiotics for two days, and continued taking tablets by more 10 days, now it is 100% good.

In Sanur we spent our last few days resting and packing the bags for our next destination: Singapore.

More Photos:

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Yes, we are already in Chile, and we have only four more days to finish our journey. In the past 5 months we passed by Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, India, England, France, Spain, Morocco, Brazil and Peru.. Meanwhile, NPLH is standing in Lombok. But why did we stop writing? Here are some reasons:

• We were writing with one month delay when we stoped
• We have too many photos (actually tons of it), and selecting the best photos to our posts is not an easy task
• We usually take on average 4 hours to write, translate, correct, diagram and select images for each post and ,believe me, stopping for 4 hours was not on our agenda, which was always full at each location
• We went through many faraway places as South of Lombok, the Rajasthan Desert, the Himalayan Mountains, the Sahara Desert, etc.. and in those places where there was internet (which was very rare!), it was expensive, slow and hard to access
• Writing in a rush we end up producing something that does not fully satisfy us
• There is no much sense to be traveling in the desert of India and writing on the paradise beaches of Thailand

After much thought we decided that it would be better to forget the internet, take our journey, taking many pictures and recording important data on our notebook. After the trip when we’ve finished we could review all the information, and devote more time to write something at the same time relevant and useful for us to read it

So yes, we are super outdated.. but we are alive and very happy.. and we’ll tell our stories in detail. From the infernal heat of Singapore, the trains in Malaysia and Thailand, entitled to fried grasshoppers and armed soldiers on the streets.. through the beaches of Ko Phagnan and the madness of Bangkok, the 3 days in Hong Kong and the best month of all in India, it would not be the same without the company of Duda (Cris’ brother) and Drica who are living there and led us to the most incredible country that seems to be another planet.. the visits to friends living in Europe, the two intense weeks in Morocco, without knowing either French or Arabic languages. The arrival in Brazil after 2 years away.. Rio de Janeiro, which is more beautiful than ever… the two months at home, Curitiba and Parana’s coast, with our families and friends.. Christmas, New Year, our wedding.. And finally the spectacular mountains of the Andes in Peru, where we’ve just left.. we are in Chile and weeks to come back to Wellington, our home in New Zealand, where we finally will organize all the photos and information.. there is nothing more favorable than New Zealand winter to sit in front of the computer and tell stories!

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Ferry from Padangbai (Bali) to Lembar (Lombok)

According to the official at the Ferry terminal there was a Ferry every 90 minutes and took up to 5hs to Lembar, in Lombok, one of the islands of Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. First lesson in Lombok: things here are not always as they say. We arrived at the terminal at 9 o’clock the morning and got in the queue of bikes waiting to board for 2 ½ hours. When we arrived there was Ferry there, which left behind a small queue. After a long time another Ferry came, lowered the door, raised the door, everyone in the queue got prepared, put helmets, turned the bikes on, but no one went aboard and the ship left again. Only 11:30 AM we could embark on a Ferry, with many other bikes, trucks and cars. Under the heat of midday, the Ferry still took almost another hour to move. 5 hours travelling… leaving at 12:30.. our hopes to arrive in Lombok and hit the road in daylight had already disappeared.
During all this waiting a looooot of very insistent vendors trying to convince us to buy their products, from sunglasses to take away nasi campur (fried rice with pork and chicken). In a normal situation we might have got irritated with this, but there in that queue, where we had nothing else to do but wait, it was even fun.

The Ferry is huge, has a variety of accents, and 5hs inside it were ok, although we could already feel the difference in behavior of the people from Lombok to those from Bali. The sense of security and tranquility we used to have in Bali had already begun to change in the queue to board, and for the first time since I left NZ I was concerned about the backpack on my back while I sat on the motorbike waiting. During the trip, not even for a minute, we left the backpacks on the bench without any of us watching them. It is difficult to explain this feeling of insecurity, and why it comes so suddenly, but coming from Brazil we know how these things are, we feel the threat in behavior, in the eyes of people. When we were arriving in Lombok a group of boys jumped inside the Ferry, began to roam all around talking loud and going through people, one of them stopped just behind me and it could have been a bit of Brazilian paranoia, but I thought it was better to lean on the wall and prevent him to open my backpack.

The bathroom’s Ferry also is worth remembering… it was the squatting style one, with marks to put the feet, a little buket steeped in water to flush.. so far so good, nothing that I was not expecting … another lesson that I had learned in Bali is always carry toilet paper in the bag.. I just was not prepared to the floor flooded and a tap dripping 30cm from my foot, causing the “water” from the floor to splash on my leg at every drop ..I was also not prepared to target the hole in the pot with the boat shaking to one side and another.. But everything was all right in the end of the day… I should have taken a picture of that toilet..

The exit of the Ferry was a hell… Felipe and Pasqual had gone ahead to get the bikes while Ale and I left the boat walking later. There was no exit for pedestrians and we had to go down and walk in the middle of the trucks, breathing diesel smoke in a closed and dark place… when we finally found Felipe and Pasqual on the bikes, they were impatient with the crowd around them … we climbed on the bikes and left without quite knowing which way to go until we found a peaceful place to stop and look at the map.

First impressions of Lombok

Lombok, as the vast majority of Indonesia, has the Islam as predominant religion and we arrived there during the last week of Ramadam, the holy Muslim month of purification. I got in the Ferry wearing a sleeveless summer top and skirt and got out wearing pants and a scarf around my shoulder.. that I just felt comfortable enough to take off after arriving at the hotel. We saw many women wearing veils on the head and none, absolutely none, Muslim or not, was showing the shoulders. Second lesson of Lombok: the vibe here is much more tense.

Our destination was Kuta, a beach in the south of Lombok that, in addition to the famous Desert Point, is the region where are the best waves of the island and also has a certain structure for tourists (hotels, restaurants, etc.).. All we had was the Lonely Planet map and a few tips that Luis had given us. It is very easy to get lost here, the roads are confusing and there are very few signs. We stopped several times to ask, everyone was always very helpful, but did not speak English… then we asked in Indonesian how to go to Kuta, or to the next city that was on the map, and tried to interpret the gestures of the answer, indicating the direction. On the first stops I’d already learned the third lesson of Lombok: women do not speak to men. The few times I took the initiative to ask a man something, or he completely ignored me or gave me a angry look… ok.. we are no longer in Bali, from now on no more smiles or conversations to anyone, let the boys speak first… unless the initiative to talk to me comes from the other person.

From the Lembar to Kuta we took about 2 hours on the road. It could have taken half the time if we had not got lost at night in the middle of nowhere and without anyone to ask for information.. and especially if the roads were not so bumpy.. A stretch that has no road, only holes.. It seems that they are building a parallel road that is supposed to be a good one, but we have seen no sign of works and there are even some houses in the middle of the way where the road should be..
Meanwhile we had to ride through the huge holes.. My butt and my back have never suffered so much!
We saw a motorbike accident on the road.. Around here nobody uses helmets (which is compulsory in Bali), we haven’t seen traffic police anywhere, we saw entire families on one bike, father, mother and two children, and adolescents love to speed while riding the bikes.. Fourth lesson in Lombok: is not so much fun riding a bike over here. We wanted to visit other parts of the island, go to the Gilis, but because of the situation of the roads, we preferred to stay only at the southern part.
We went through several villages on the way, all very poor.. Lombok seems to be abandoned by the government of Indonesia… houses made of wood and bamboo with straw roof, a lot of garbage all around, children playing on the garbage..

The lost hotel

When at last we arrive in Kuta it was about 8PM and for the first time on the journey we had booked our stay.. From Bali we called two hotels that Luis knew, and both of them were full.. Then we called another one that was in the guide, and we finally managed to book two rooms at fair a price.. The place was called “Melon Homestay” and the details of the guide to get there were not very accurate.. We wandered around Kuta (which is not very big) and did not find it, we were super tired.. then we stopped at a restaurant to ask… Opan, the boy who works in that restaurant, is the one that saved us this night. He led us up the Melon Homestay personally, arriving there the guy who barely spoke English answered and he was helping us to translate what meant that there was no rooms for us. They had booked two rooms that they thought that the guys in these rooms were going leave that day, but they didn’t.. So there was no vacancy, it was full. Pasqual wanted argue and discuss with the guy in the inn, I was so tired that I just wanted to find another place to drop our bags, eat something and sleep. Recalling the first lesson: things here are not always as they say, especially with Melon Homestay. Then Opan led us to another hotel that had a few rooms available, but we thought they asked a too high price for the rooms they were offering and that none of us liked.. Then Opan said “okay, I will lead you to a place that you will like the room and the price” .. and he was right, finally we found “Segare Anak,” a hotel in front of the beach with simple rooms (cold shower), a restaurant in front and a swimming pool at the backyard for 80,000 Rupees (approx. US$ 4.00 each) per day, including breakfast… and people working there were all very nice people.. who needs more than this? We spent our 5 days in Lombok hosted there.

Children of Lombok

The differences between Bali and Lombok continued on the next day, when we were walking on the beach. The sea is turquoise blue and when sun shines you can see the different colors because of the coral reef on the bottom. The beach is extensive, with a large stripe of sand and there is noone having fun.. be it on the sand or in the water. Many children were trying to sell handmade bracelets. The first of them was Sophie, a beautiful girl who came alone and started conversation.. And only after a while chatting she showed us the bracelets she wanted to sell. Following her two boys arrived and picked on us for several days in several different places. And finally seven other girls arrived, Marcia, Mariana, Luisa … all with names similar to those we have in Brazil. Everyone had the same speech: they were selling stuff to pay the school… some of them even said that it was because schools in Australia are expensive (we found out later that in Indonesia is very common throughout this “dream” to go to Australia in search of a better life). I believe some of these children were really going to school, as Sophie, who had an above average English, but others hardly knew words other than the pre-made speech and ended up commenting about their “boss”, where probably the bracelets money was going. We ended up buying two bracelets from Sophie (one for me and one for Ale) and we kept chatting with the others.

The sun was already rising, the heat was increasing, and those girls, around 6 to 13 years old, covered with clothes, wearing veils and carrying sarongs on the head. We asked if they liked the beach, if they knew how to swim.. the response was unanimous: “no, because the skin gets darker.. we like white skin, white skin is beautiful, not dark skin“… so I said I think that dark skin is beautiful and asked if they wanted to swap with me.. and they laughed. While in the Brazilian market we have tanning moisturisers, here in Indonesia the same brands have whitening action.. It was hard to find a cream that was not to whiten the skin.

5 days touring and learning

During the 5 days Felipe and Pasqual surfed a lot (what Fe can tell on details later), Ale and I did not spend much time on the beaches, although we have seen a few European tourists in a bikini on the sand, we did not feel at ease to do the same and do not think that would be correct.
So we enjoyed the pool on the hotel and rode the bike through bumpy roads to see other beaches in the region, one more beautiful then another.

We met Tuna, a very nice guy who owns a shop in front of the hotel. A house made of bamboo structureand straw roof, which is built on the sand of the beach and is probably where he lives with his wife Natasha and his 3 years old baby. He told us with great pride that he was Sasak and assiduous follower of Islam, spoke of the Ramadam, about how a good Muslim should always help other people (and it reminded me of Opan, the boy who helped us to find the hotel, and did not ask anything in return, he also commented about being Muslim and being happy to be able to help us), he spoke about the 5 prayers that they do every day, one at 4:30 in the morning, and about the huge party that was going to happen in 3 days when the Ramadam ends. He told us he had “stolen” his wife from her parents’ house, so they were able to get married, and that this was a Sasak tradition, the guy gets his wife-to-be and takes her home and after that her parents have no other option than allow the marriage, since she had already spent a night there. And surprised me when I met Natasha, a happy woman who wore no veil on her head.

During the dry season the south of Lombok is a desert region. We saw several dry rice fields and many plantations of tobacco, with people carrying the huge sheets of smoke on the head under the burning sun. On the first night that it rained we were in the hotel restaurant and saw the employees surprised with the early rain and thanking the gods for this. On the second night of heavy, tropical rain I got worried about all those people living under a roof of straw and surrounded by garbage.

Returning to Bali

We left Lombok on the last day of Ramadam, on the next day would happen a party that would last for the next 3 days. On the way to the Ferry Terminal, we passed through an uproar in the middle of the street that seemed to be a fair. For several blocks people were selling everything on sidewalks, other people were passing through the street to buy stuff and cars, motorbikes, trucks and decorated horses with chariots could barely move… the rare police offiicers there could not organize the traffic, everyone and trying to shove on the first little space that appeared. With the bikes overloaded with bags and surfboards, we had to do the same.

About 50 meters from the Ferry Terminal, two police officers on uniforms with “stop” signs on hand and made us stop on the middle of the road, they were selling tickets for the Ferry. I founf  it odd that they said it cost 7,000 Rupees, while when we came we paid 92,000.. I did not understand very well what was happening, they would not let us pass without buying it, I was suspicious but I saw that they also stopped a van with an Indonesian driver, that came right behind us. I gave 10,000 to the guy, so he got the money and told us that we could go. Felipe said, “but where ’s the ticket? You did not gave me the ticket“, the police officer got two tickets and gave him then I said “and where ’s my change? you said it was 7, I gave you 10“.. by then I had already noticed that it was all false, they were not police officers or anything and they had just robbed us. After some discussion he returned me 3,000 Rupees, we kept going to stop 50 meters further where the officer charged us the same 92,000 Rupees for the bike and two people, and gave us the real ticket.

The Ferry to return was much worse than the first one. There were very few places inside and there was no covered seat outside.. We found a corner of shade on the top of the ship with plastic seats where we spent the entire trip, it was impossible to stay anywhere in the boat because of the unbearable stench of sour mixed with hoop.. that even being outside on the top part and with the wind on our faces, the smell still remained.

When we arrived back in Padangbai, there was another vessel berthed at the terminal and the Ferry stopped by more than 1 hour waiting to be able to stop there. We waited to leave after everyone else, so we wouldn’t have to go through the same situation with the trucks and diesel down there, we were the last to leave and as soon as Felipe accelerated the bike he could not control it, the rear tire was completely seared. We had to walk out with the bags, pushing the bike up a workshop in Padangbai.
It’s good to be back to Bali, the beachs may not be as beautiful as in Lombok, but the careful architecture of the houses, the smiles and calm look on the faces around us, and especially the smell of sandalwood which is placed in the offerings, make me feel happy.

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The day before I already had combined with Pasqual, my friend from Brazil and New Zealand, Luís, Pasqual’s friend, an amazing person that received us in Bali as a long term friend even without knowing us, Steve, an OZ guy, who lives in Ubud - Bali, does yoga and is very excited about the wedding with his Japanese  girlfriend who is waiting for a baby, and Tilo a German who already left Bali and is travelling for a long time, to go surfing in a secret spot in east of Bali leaving at 6 in the morning.

The promise were good waves and few people in the water, again I have to thank Louis for the tip. We agree on time and I came out of the inn and Pasqual on the same bike, he headed in the rump and I go find the rest of the staff at the home of Luís Get there and again we were very well received with a super breakfast. From there follow pro peak giving half hour of Sanur. We went to a desert beach of dark sand, with several coconut trees, two people in the water (as in the most famous points of Bali like Uluwtu you easily come to see 50 people), perfect waves breaking to right and left with 4 to 6 feet, the right longer and the left short but heavy, a beautiful blue sky, warm water, the majestic Agung on the background, the biggest volcano in Bali and Nusa Lebongan in front, a dream for any surfer.

I was a little rusty by the cold New Zealander winter, and started surfing carefully the smaller waves go into the rhythm, everything was going well, but after about 1 hour surfing a big one broke in front of me and snaped my board in 2 pieces, everything okay with me, but I was frustrated to break the board in the first day.

I left the water and I was watching the guys surfing. After 1 hour Pasqual left and lent me his surfboard and I surfed for another hour.

After the surf  I left my board for repair with a Balinese fellow in Sanur, which charged Rp 200,000.00/USD 20 for the service, 10% of the price it would be in NZ. My intention was just fix it to sell, but the repair was so good that I ended up with the board and I am using every day so far.

After lunch we were in a warung (small restaurant), me, Cris, the Pasqual and Ale. It was such a buffet that began with a plate full of rice and you choose the complements. It’s super simple place, they didn’t speak English and our Bahasa Indonesia is very superficial we just pointed the food, some of them hard to imagine what it was but we could never ask, on average a dish plus Lemon costs RP 12,000.00 / USD 1.20. In the afternoon we were in the pool, relaxing and sun bathing

At night we have a special dinner at Massimo, an excellent Italian restaurant in Sanur. Arriving in front of the restaurant I realized I had forgotten the wallet in the homestay, I and Pasqual went back , each with their motorbike to get it. The path to the homestay is very narrow, a car wide, windy, and full holes in the asphalt and some parts with sand on it. We got there, I got my wallet, put the helmet on, and started on the bike, at first curve was a little girl coming on the opposite direction, and to give her more space on the curve I passed through a deep hole filled with water, I lost the balance a little, tried to accelerate to get the balance back but I ended up on a pocket of sand on the asphalt, the bike lost traction and in slow motion until it is tilting the only way out was to jump off the bike and dive into the asphalt, a bike in one side me in the other.

All the lights on the neighborhood turned on, I stand up, walked to the bike, fall on the floor, the girl who passed me came back, she asked if I was ok, I said “yes I’m OK” , them everyone left their houses and suddenly I was surrounded by people asking if I was good, in english and bahasa indonesia some wanted me to go to the hospital, Pasqual who was in front of  me came back and the owner of the homestay came and took me away from the crowd, “Come with me,” going to homestay’s main room, he gave a look to the injuries and even feeling well was relieved when he said “don’t worry they are all superficial”, I was wearing shorts, jandals and a t-shirt, and injured the right foot, leg and elbow, “now you need to clean that to avoid an infection” he said. Pasqual who took me to the shower and gave me a sponge with soap, I also was very concerned with the risk of an infection, even more because we are in a tropical country and I have fallen in a very dusty and dirty asphalt, I turned on the shower, washed and rubbed hard all the injuries to take any and all dirt, we made the dressings, got the bike again, now with the side a little grated and returned to the restaurant, I came walking normally as if nothing had happened, “What were you guys doing huh?” asked the girls, we gave them any excuse to keep the good vibe for that special dinner , which was really delicious, beer, pizza and desert  ~ 50.000/Usd Rp 5.00 per person.

The injuries were superficial but painful enough to keep me out of the water for 5 days, but right now I’m almost completely healed, just the foot still under special care, but I’m doing everything normally, surfing a lot by the way, what’s completely wrong, but how could I resist the bali’s wave perfection..

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Selamat pagi everyone. We’ve been in Indonesia for 2 weeks, but it feels like a lot more and as long as it’s been awhile that we don’t post anything, prepare yourself because here comes a big story. It is a feeling of newness at every minute and at the same time of identification, something here makes me feel at home. New Zealand seems so distant now, and the feeling is that Australia was no more than a quick passage and that the journey only began on the day they we took off from Perth. Today, more precisely, we are in Lombok, one of the islands of Nusa Tenggara, but I came here to tell a little bit of what were the first weeks in Bali.

Arrival

At the airport in Perth and throughout the flight I broke a strange nervousness. My heart seemed that was beating up at my mouth, I got dizzy and could not explain why. Only later I realized that I was about to fall in love. It was love at first sight of the colors of the sea, the architecture, the smiles, the first scent of sandalwood, the sea and restaurants, the first sound of bells, the sea, the horns, the first desire to take off my boots, my pants and wear only a summer dress as it was 30 degrees inside the airport. The kind of love that even knowing the shortcomings of other, falls in love more and more every day. Bali is a place to fall in love with. Even with the intrinsic poverty, chaotic, noisy and polluted traffic, the open sewers, the garbage on the streets, the corruption, the excessive number of tourists … Bali is still lovely. The little we could know of the island before coming to Lombok showed us that Bali is beautiful, colorful and smiling. Every corner, every house, every object, is an example that Bali is overflowing art, history and culture by every pore. The food is wonderful. Before leaving NZ we received several warnings to do not even brush our teeth with tap water at the risk of contamination, even so since the first day we’ve been having natural juices, tea with ice, eating in small local restaurants (which do not speak English, do not serve Western food and do not charge us 5x the normal price) and yes, we do brush our teeth usually with tap water and have not had any problem, neither I nor Felipe.

Immigration

We left Perth with 1 hour of delay and arrived at the airport in Denpasar (which indeed is not in Denpasar) at 3:30 in the afternoon. First stop was to pay the visa - US$25 each, 50,000 rupees for both, as Felipe had taken a few rupees before leaving Australia. Second and loooong was the stop at the immigration queue, which despite the delay of approximately 1 hour, was very calm, they got our passports, the forms that we had filled out during the flight, the receipt of payment and returned it with the stamp “Republic of Indonesia” with a 30-day visa. No questions, no other document required, simple like this. When we finally left, our bags were waiting on the floor in the lobby of the airport. Airport security guards surrendered the bags to their respective owners. We also passed by the police with bags and surfboards with no question, or even a X-ray. But behind me I saw a guy having to put the surfboard on the table, open and show the police officer what was inside it. The Indonesian law has zero tolerance for possession of drugs and if the person is carrying any, he can get death penalty here. Leaving the airport, there was a huge crowd outside. A total madness, everyone squeezing themselves behind a little gate, shouting, holding labels with names, pushing each other… a lot of people, and a very hot weather. From inside we saw Pasqual and Ale, by the corner, a little separated from the crowd, waving to us.

Reception in Bali

Pasqual and Ale are a couple of very good and dear friends, also from Curitiba and who also live in New Zealand, they left NZ 1 month before us and we’ll be with us during this trip in several parts of the way. They arrived in Indonesia also 1 month before us and when we arrived not only they were waiting for us at the airport but also had already arranged a taxi to take us to a friend’s house and had even rented a motorbike for us for the next month. Thanks a loooooooot, dears! In Singapore we’ll be waiting for you. We got the cab to Luis’ house, another Brazilian, also from Curitiba, who’s been living in Bali for 7 months with his wife, Aline, who is from Switzerland. Luis’ house is located in Sanur, a city on the east coast of Bali. The first shock was the traffic, we already knew the fame of the chaos of traffic here, but from inside the taxi we were even more impressed. Many many bikes, sometimes whole families on a bike, the cars and bikes pile up, if they overtaking, the turn in front of each other without waiting their turn, they only warn with the horn .. it means that everybody horns all the time and it seems that everyone “almost hits” all the time too. In Luis’ house I finally managed to get off my boots and pants and relax. We paid the rent of our bike, 600,000 Rupees for a month, which is equivalent to US$ 60 (that’s right, US$2 per day). At night we moved the four of us to “Kesari Sanur”, an excellent inn in Sanur, western style, with pool, internet and rooms with air conditioning. Price: 150,000 Rupees per day each room - US$ 7.50 per person. We spent 3 days there and then we moved to “Sun House”, another excellent inn, Balinese style, but also with pool, air conditioning and the same price. We spent 2 more days there. I recommend either of them for who is looking to go to Sanur, only the pool is worth it on this freaking hot city.

Getting in the mood in Sanur

It was great to spend the first 5 days in Sanur. First because with it we decelerated and got into the rhythm of Bali, which as any place that is hot is also slow. Then because we had some setbacks: On our second day here the boys went surfing very early and Felipe came back with his board broken in half and had to have it repaired, he can tell this story in more detail later, since I was not there. I spent the morning walking through the streets of Sanur, I got lost, endend up at the beach, which sea water has a lot of seaweed and there is people sunbathing only in front of resorts… finally I found my way back to the hotel, which was all the time like this: “Hello! How are you? “,” Hello, good and you? “,” Need transport? “,” No, thank you. “,” Maybe tomorrow “,” No, thank you. “,” Maybe later?, “” Hello .. need transport “,” … “,” Maybe tomorrow “,” … “,” Hello! How are you? “,” Hello … (smile) … “,” Need transport? “,” Where are you from? “… Women walking alone on the streets of Bali is like this… all men say “hello”. All of them! No exception. In contrast when I left in the afternoon with Ale and the boys together, they hardly looked to us. At night we left for dinner and while Ale and I waited for boys at the restaurant Felipe fell with the motorbike. He arrived at the restaurant with bandages on the foot, leg and right arm. He said it was a fool thing, he’d slipped in the sand, alone and slowly, but all skinning and since he could not surf without his board and hurt, in pain and afraid of catching an infection, that was another reason for staying a couple more days in Sanur, enjoying the swimming pool, touring the town in adapting to the Balinese style and catching up with our friends. We learnt the fair price of things, met some “warungs” (small restaurants) thanks to Luis who lives here, we also learnt a few words in Bahasa Indonesia and Felipe were amused bargainng prices with vendors.

In the heart of Bali - Ubud

On Friday we went to Ubud. The city is more to the center of the island, and the last 10 years there was a boom on tourism that was not previously exist there. Not for less, Ubud is surrounded by hindu temples, archaeological sites, museums, art galleries, besides being the city that houses the royal palace of Bali. That’s where the main artistic displays happen, either visual arts, music, dance or theater. Ubud also has numerous stores more or less luxurious and a central market with stalls selling typical balinese products: clothes, sarongs, jewelry, furniture, pieces of decoration, spices and more.

Wena Homestay

We spent 4 days in Ubud. We stayed at “Wena Homestay”, as the name says is a residential house that has rooms for rent, that Pasqual and Ale had been before. It cost 70,000 rupees a day including breakfast - 3.50 U.S. dollars per person. The place is quite nice, the family treated us extremely well and we had the opportunity to be a little closer to their lifestyle. The rooms are very simple and spacious, with ceiling fan, the bathroom has no toilet paper or flushing (most have a tap and a bucket that do the same service) and have hot water in the shower. The place is huge with a beautiful garden that had an inside fountain with koi fish. For breakfast there was always fruit salad, banana pancakes or egg with toast, tea and bali coffee (they put the powder directly in the cup, which after a while is just at the bottom and is delicious). Another thing different here in Indonesia is that the sugar is usually liquid.

The Monkey Forest and Goa Gajah

In Ubud we visited the sacred forest of monkeys, which has some temples inside and many monkeys running loose among people, usually after a banana. We had taken a bunch of bananas, because the home’s staff had warned us that sometimes the monkeys steal any object and we have to change with them on a banana, but then came a monkey at the entrance with a funny moustached and stole the whole bunch from Pasqual’s hand, when he noticed the jack was already on top of the roof eating all the bananas. Even though all they stole in there were scares and smiles. We also visited a place called “Goa Gajah”, or the Elephant Cave, also sacred to the Hindu and is believed to be from the eleventh century. The place is immense, everything inside is sacred, there are several images of Ganesh (the Elephant headed son of Shiva), the Lingan of Shiva, of Hariti (the goddess that converted herself and became protective of children), there is a huge statue of Buddha that collapsed and is in ruins now, there are images of animals carved in stone and we were explained that we could get blessed with water sources and the river, which is also sacred. The cave itself is a hole in a rock that they told us to be super deep and dark, we could not go very far, but we saw several offerings that people leave there.

Offerings

Offerings are the most common things in Bali. Every day, everywhere, shops, houses, temples, often more than one. People are very religious. The curious thing is that they do both offerings to the good spirits, that according to their beliefs live on top of the mountains, and for bad spirits, living deep in the ocean. We humans, we live in the middle.

Legong, Barong and the market

In Ubud we also witnessed a show of typical Balinese dance / theater called Legong and Barong Dance that was shown in the Royal Palace in the evening. We visited a rice field. Of course, we did not resisted and entered in the madness of the central market. Vendors speaking at the same time, pulling us by the arm inside their stalls, selling their products, shouting prices, lowering prices, asking you to say how much you want to pay, even if you are not interested in the product. It is stressful, very stressful and fun at the same time. “Sarong? Sarong? Cheap price! “,” How much you want? Tell me, how much you want to pay? “,” Cheap price! “,” I say HUNDRED THOUSAND but you Bargain! “,” Pipty thousand, pourty thousand …. Okay, twenty pive thousand for you, only because you have a good smile. “

Cremation

At home several women were working for the cremation ceremony of their parents that is going to happen only in November. We learned that to be cremated for them is one of the most important things that exists and that for a criminal the penalty of not being cremated when they die can be worse than the death penalty itself. But the ceremony of cremation is very expensive for them, most of whom are very poor, and generally is a collective celebration that the whole community works to happen. Women began to work with the crafts early in the morning and at evening they were still there. Making beautiful things and chating. And there are still 2 months to the ceremony to happen.

Packing the bags to Lombok

On Tuesday we went back to Sanur to pick up the surfboards that had stayed at Luis’ house with our large bags (we have been traveling with the small backpacks here). We got some tips on Lombok with Luis and Aline. Had lunch at a local Warung and tried to make us understood with our weak Bahasa Indonesia. We got back on the road for more than an hour riding to Padangbai, also on the east coast of Bali where is the Ferry terminal to Lombok. In Padangbai we stayed in a little hotel also for 70,000 rupees including breakfast, the bathroom had flushing this time, but had no hot water. After breakfast we went to the Ferry, which costs 92,000 rupees (US$ 9.20) for the bike with two people - 5 hours travelling on the big boat to Lembar, in Lombok, Nusa Tenggara.

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We are in Bali for a week and has been a very intense experience in every way. We’re a bit away from the computer and the Internet is very slow here. We spent 5 days in Sanur, 4 in Ubud and we’re going to Bukit tomorrow, we are loving it and soon we’ll be posting something about it, but don’t expect much hurry from us because we’re at BALI

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Overview

Perth is the capital of Western Australia which is supposedly the richest state in Australia thanks for the mining boom in the north of the state. It is also a region of recent settlement with about 180 years of history. Everything is very new and modern.

We got a pleasant climate, and even catching a few moments of rain, the temperature was always around 20°/68°F degrees dropping a little at night. The summer is very hot and dry and the winter is cool and rainy.

The topography is mainly plane with a great river dividing the city in south and north. The city is very widespread, with neighborhoods distant from each other, spacious houses with big gardens, large parks and areas with the typical vegetation of the region, with many eucalyptus trees and bushes in a bright red soil that tends to dye houses and sidewalks.

The public transport is good, with trains, boats and buses, but unfortunately has a bad coverage, the boulevards are wide and almost everyone uses car to get around the city and apart from the center, it’s difficult to see someone walking in the street.

Even modern and structured, Perth maintains a rustic atmosphere of a small town, where people have more time, speak slowly and like a chat in a very friendly environment. We felt that Amanda and Roberto were well received and hosted by the city and are enjoying an excellent quality of life.

Arrival

The arrival in Perth was a little strange, landed at an airport in reforms, it was as if we had land on a construction site. The bags come in different places and take at least 1 hour to find my cousin Amanda, who was nicely waiting for us, she lives there with her husband Roberto there for almost 2 years. It was great to stay with them, not only by the VIP treatment (thanks Amanda and Roberto), but also for tips and stories about the city.

From the airport went straight to a famous brewery city, Little Creatures in the artistic suburb of Freemantle. There we updated the conversation and took what they say is one of the best beers in town, in addition to the place has a lot of personality, which is basically rustic with some sophisticated details.

AQWA - Aquarium of Western Australia

The next morning we were visiting the state’s aquarium, which is really impressive, there you literally enter the tank by a glass tunnel with several fish, sting rays, turtles and sharks giving the impression that you’re a fish and several other smaller aquariums with sea stars, octopuses and other marine animals, all very organized.

Admission: AUD 19.00

Kings Park

Already on the flight from Sydney Perth for a very nice lady made a big propaganda of Kings Park, she told us that we couldn’t lose the wild flowers of the season. We went there just after the aquarium enjoying the sun appeared. The park is very spacious with large gardens, typical vegetation of West Australia, cafes and restaurants with great food and lot of walking trails throughout the park.

Perth Zoo

On the morning of Sunday we went to the zoo in the city that surprised by the size and diversity, the space is divided into:

• Australian Bushwalk with snakes, lizards, kangaroos, koalas, birds and vegetation typical of Australia and shrubs with eucalipotos}
• Asian Rainforest with many monkeys, elephants, tigers and a lush green forest.
• African Savanna with giraffes, rhinos, lions and several other African animals.

Admission: AUD 19.00

City Centre

After 3 hours of Zoo we know the centre of town more closely. The centre contrasts a lot with the more distant neighborhoods, it’s busier, with large vertical buildings and multiethnic. We passed the main sidewalk, very similar to our Rua das Flores of Curitiba, with lot of different people doing all sorts of activities.

We went to a shop for souvenirs that the owners were a couple, an Afghan guy and Japanese woman, who loved Brazilians, “Brazilians good heart” he said beating himself in the chest, the interesting thing is that they speak a very broken  English, even for Brazilian standards, and they talk to each other using an odd blend of farsi and japanese.

Then we went to the supermarket to buy ingredients for our dinner, a risotto marinara with banana “farofa” , prepared by chef (he’s finishing a course) Roberto which was delicious.

Sunday was the day to wake up early, reorganize the suitcases for our first tropical destination - winter clothes at the bottom, summer clothes up - and the beginning of 2 months in Asia.

Taxi to the airport: AUD 50.00 (ouch!)

More photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/criscampos/

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