There’s no shortage of pretty sights in Bali and we had only a week to try to see as much as we could. While heading north from Ubud to get to the northern coast, our ride stopped at a restaurant/rest area for lunch. Right across the road was this scene of terraced rice paddies. Bali is famous for them. The volcanic soil of the island is very fertile but the mountainous terrain isn’t ideal for a farmer — unless you put the effort into creating these steps of earth up the slopes. Beautiful stuff, but also a lot of work. Rice is everything in Indonesia, the world’s third biggest producer of the stuff, and as my Indonesian-born friend Riz says, even after growing up in the States and even if he just stuffed himself on a pizza: “It’s not a meal unless there’s rice.”

Check out other Mad Traveler blogs about Bali

TRAVEL PHOTOS OF THE WEEK 2012: Week 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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This weekend is Carnival in Catholic-influenced places around the world. I’ve been to Mardi Gras (just a few months after Katrina — a low key year to say the least, but the show went on). I’ve joined in Carnival in Curacao, where you can contact a participating group, pay a fee, send your measurements, and show up to claim your tailor-made costume for the festivities. You get to be part of the parade. And finally, I picked up a squeaking plastic hammer and smacked perfect strangers over the head during Carnival in Sicily. They had some excellent floats there in Acireale, and claim to be the most beautiful carnevale in all of Sicily.

But one Carnival experience that I really want to have is Carnevale in Venice. Something about those masks seems so classic and classy. Though I wasn’t there for the event, the masks were already in a few shop windows. It’s not like a person needs an excuse to want to visit Italy, but this would qualify.

TRAVEL PHOTOS OF THE WEEK 2012: Week 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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My mother-in-law ordered a second bowl, insisting I take on the first all by myself. (Enabler!)

And if that heat wasn’t abusive enough I sent in some yellow curry pork to turn it up to 11.

(Som tam, spicy green papaya salad, another great dish we were missing back in the States.)

In the evening we visited the new fancy schmancy shopping complex Terminal 21, a multi-destination themed shopping complex directly connected to the Asok BTS Skytrain station. An Italian/Thai/Japanese restaurant — I know that sounds like a food version of a wedding band: play everything, but not very well — on the 5th floor. It wasn’t too bad though and the real purpose of being there was to meet up with our good friends Ray and Nok.

Among several dishes, we ordered a laab moo pizza. Not because we thought a Northern Thai spicy lime ground-pork sort of meat and herb salad on a pizza sounded like a good idea, but because we wanted to know if perhaps we were missing something. Um, we weren’t. While it wasn’t awful, each half was pretty good by itself and it was a shame to mix them up.

But a creative appetizer went with a safer bet, relying on that bit of cooking wisdom we all know: bacon makes everything better. Take an Isaan-style fermented pork sausage and wrap in the magic and fry it. Big win for the table!

This weekend we will head to an island in the Bay of Thailand for some jet-lag therapy in the sun on the beach. Koh Samet – Watch for it! While the snorkeling isn’t much there, I aim to try out our new underwater case for our Canon PowerShot S100

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The taxi driver squinted at the address, repeated it aloud a couple times, and then Hai! (Yes!) he knew where to go. We drove about ten minutes through what might be described as a Japanese hamlet tucked into a narrow valley by the sea. We crossed a river and followed a road the curled up around one of the hills until he stopped suddenly. Hai!

Here?

Hai!

We were in front of a small house. So my blind date wasn’t a hotel but a homestay.

Two women in their 50s came out and greeted me with enthusiasm, but were stunned when I indicated I spoke no Japanese. (Later through translation I understood she ‘panicked’) But no worries. I moved my things into a room by the door with mats on the floor and no furniture but a television. Then we moved into the living room where I met one woman’s daughter and her six-month old grandson. From there it was a long lesson in ad hoc sign language. And how to live without furniture. I must be getting old because two minutes sitting cross-legged and my feet become needlepoint projects. The home’s tiny dog, Chihua (yes, it’s a Chihuahua) curled itself into my lap as I ate so I was even less inclined to move around to restore circulation.

Hot springs are everywhere in Yugawara. The three-level house is built on a slope and at the bottom is a nice little bathhouse with a tub filled with water almost too hot to bear. In fact, 80 C (176 F)! (A stuffed Turkey must reach 165 F just to give you an idea.) The tub continues to fill at a mere trickle and yet the heat never seems to dissipate. I tell you it was scalding, but I took the situation as a challenge and over a period of about 15 minutes, I managed to work my way into the boil. Needless to say, I didn’t stay completely submerged for long, but I did get in and out a bit and poured cooler water on myself.

Upon arrival I was shown my slippers, which needed to be taken off before entering my room, put back on for the hall, changed for a different pair in the restroom, and at the walkway to the bathhouse. Put them on, off, change them. It was like figuring out when to kneel sit stand kneel at Catholic mass. Mine didn’t fit and my left foot acted like a wedge forcing the slipper forward so that when I climbed the steps the slipper dangled from my big toe and I had to keep my leg straight like a limp to carry it up in this fashion. Another scene for the highlight clips.

It took a lot of effort among us to figure out what I wanted to eat. When they discovered I liked raw tuna, they were downright gleeful. The next meal they brought me an absurd amount. I’d estimate well over a pound of it and I worried that if I left any it would be an offense. (To be honest, I LOVE the stuff, so even personally it would have been a crime to leave any.)

In the morning I had a note from the daughter via an automatic internet translator (which is anything but accurate):

The daughter has gone to the car driving school morning.
The daughter comes back it in the afternoon.
Yugawara cannot be guided till then.
It is possible to guide in the afternoon.
It is in a small waterfall to go.
It is a beautiful park of the flower.
Please say no to me if the guide is unnecessary.

Unnecessary, but preferable, and the walk there was lovely. The house mom gathered wild plants along the route and back at the house we ate “wild mountain herbs” tempura, also good. I think there was a dandelion in there, possibly some crabgrass.

When I left for the airport the family tried to express their grief. Unlike much of the business ceremonious politeness, this seemed heartfelt and sweet. Looking for a nice homestay in a quiet little town not far from Tokyo? See the contact information below…

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Read about my previous trip to Kyoto

An Onsen in Yugawara
Hotel’s Name: Aoki-soh （あおき荘）
Address: 760-33 Miyagami, Yugawara-cho, Ashigarashimo-gun, Kanagawa (神奈川県足柄下郡湯河原町宮上760-33）
Phone: +81 (0) 465-62-5453
http://www.onsen-navi.net/aoki/ (in Japanese but browser translation works well)

You can take the JR Shinkansen to Odawara and then take a JR Tokaido Honsen to Yugawara. The homestay is a 10-minute taxi from there. Yugawara is two hours and a half from Narita Airport. The hotel accepts late check-in (till 8pm).

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It’s winter, so maybe I am trending a bit on the beach photos, no? Nothing like a tiny island in the Caribbean. Lime Cay is a short boat ride from Port Royal, Kingston, and really the best bet for a nice beach in the Kingston area. It’s a wooded strip of sand and coral about 380 meters long and never more than 80 across. If you’ve already done the Bob Marley Museum, this is not a bad place to get away from it all. Sort of — it can be quite popular due to its proximity, and you can find a few makeshift bars serving drinks there as well as fresh oyster vendors (with hot sauce naturally). So depending on when you go, it is either pristine and totally laid-back or even “secluded,” or overrun with boats – both local rides and private yachts – and more of a party setting. I lucked out and was sharing the tiny cay with just a dozen or so. You could rent a jet ski to get here in about 15 minutes or join others on a frequently running shared boat.

If you are into the natural beauty of the Caribbean, then Jamaica river rafting is a must. Also, I once did a round-the-island trip to inspect about 80 hotels. Check out my five favorite hotels in Jamaica.

TRAVEL PHOTOS OF THE WEEK 2012: Week 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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Go here for holidays to Florida.

I still come here even though I know I will probably not buy anything. I know that there are better seafood restaurants and cheaper markets in other parts far from this pedestrian institution. But there is always something refreshing about this promenade on the European side of Istanbul, something that makes me feel like I have arrived somewhere special.

It doesn’t matter the time of day; there are great numbers of Turks walking up and down the wide brick and stone avenue, ducking in and out of shops, cafes, restaurants. The weather never seems to matter. If it is raining, they continue to come, some with umbrellas. An umbrella vendor magically appears having waited for that big opportunity to peddle his wares that have been stowed away on the sunny days. If it snows or the wind blows, a different vendor shows up with scarves, ear muffs or knit caps and plants his feet in the middle of the traffic, pivoting to face the next approaching potential sale.

The pedestrians stay on into the dark. At night, until the wee hours, shops spill light into their paths; women walk arm in arm, as do the men. Young couples stroll slowly; youthful singles flirt or move in the safety of packs with their friends. It’s not just pedestrian traffic; a tram follows a pair of rails from the top of the street at Taksim Square down to the entrance to the funicular that takes passengers underground from the height of Beyoglu down to the level of the sea at the Golden Horn. The tram bell nips at everyone’s heels and they clear to the sides as the red car rattles past. Periodically a police vehicle does the same, and rather than shouting into the bullhorn or sounding a horn or siren, an officer blows into the microphone to alert those with their backs turned, so that it sounds like an angry beast is snorting at them.

In between all these sounds, and weaving together an oriental fabric of ambience, are the melodies drifting out from stores and bars. Live music is everywhere, from an acoustic band in a nearby coffee shop to the old man propped up on a wobbly crate playing a saz and singing through a portable amplifier. A small child works wonders from a battered concertina nearly too big for him to manage. The girl across the street doing the same may be his sister; both of them working for tips much as the other children selling SelPak, little packets of tissues, for pocket change. The latest pop song is on repeat at the CD store, blaring into the outside world. A popular waltz does the same the next shop over. For three years running I’ve been able to hear that song here which is either a dear-held favorite or a constant torture. All of this becomes a soundtrack for a foreign film and I walk among the extras playing the protagonist in a solipsistic narrative in my head.

Chestnuts being roasted in push carts. The silver glitter of seafood under the harsh light of bare bulbs, the sizzle and smell of deep-frying mussels, the vendors shouting their wares as you pass threading your way through the narrow path among the displays at the fish market and Cicek Pasaji, the flower market. It’s all a delightful chaos and reminds me where I am and fixes me there in the moment.

Check out The Mad Traveler for an Istiklal Photo Gallery.

Look for cheap flights to Turkey.

Once part of the Lesser Antilles (the ABC islands including Aruba and Bonaire), this former territory of the Netherlands is now one of the countries in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Details, details… it is an awesome island not far off the coast of Venezuela.

Pictured is the waterfront in Willemstad, the capital city. St. Anna Bay divides the city into two halves: Punda, and what you see here, Otrabanda. The architecture is Dutch Colonial, but the color is decidedly Caribbean. Punda has the old Fort Amsterdam, but Otrabanda is getting some nice upgrades on the historical buildings. Kura Hulanda Museum offers a must-see look at the history of the slave trade. Curacao Carnival is one of the best carnivals in the Western Hemisphere.

TRAVEL PHOTOS OF THE WEEK 2012: Week 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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Next up is…

The Return to Asia!

We are already making our lists of what we want to eat and where when we get back to Bangkok. My vote is we start with krapow moo sap kai dao in Soi 22. Peung is arguing for tom yum goong at Laem Chareong. Two of my favorite dishes on the road. That sounds like lunch and dinner are settled on Day 1. We moved up our travel dates so we could attend a Bangkok wedding of our two friends Greg and Aom, and we will spend some time with them on Koh Samet, a lovely little island a short drive and ferry ride from Bangkok. I’ve used it before as my Jet Lag Cure. Lots of sun, they say. Done!

We will also return to Chiang Mai for time with more friends, maybe some jazz at North Gate Jazz Co-op, and caffeine and hangouts at Akha Ama Coffee. And food, more food. Peung hopes to have her own blog up by then, predictably about food and travel and food.

Off to China and Taiwan for me… Shanghai, Beijing, then Taipei, Taichung…

Then our first island trip into Southern Thailand really since our time on Koh Tarutao and Koh Adang a few years ago. This time Trang is the province of choice and we’ll explore Koh Mook, Koh Ngai, and Koh Kradan. We’ll have a new underwater camera along for this adventure.

Then I head to Ukraine for a week and a bit of catching up with a friend there. He tells me there are breweries that need to be checked out. I’ll oblige. Plus a cave monastery? Nice!

Stopping in Seoul for some Korean BBQ, then a few days in Japan hoping to hit Kyoto again or perhaps Kobe or another city I haven’t seen yet. Tokyo has a new luxury hotel I will check out before its grand opening.

April is a question mark, but Borneo might FINALLY happen. It’s been on the wish list for a long time now but I won’t go there if I only have a few days. I’m not even sure two weeks would do it justice. If it happens, we will visit Malaysia’s Sabah, the orangutan rescue project, do some snorkeling, and then head through Brunei and on to some national parks.

The grand finale will be a trip to the Middle East. Some time in Jordan and then I’ll slip over the border into Israel for a week and catch as much as I can. (I hear there is a growing microbrewery movement there!)

When we get back to the US, we will begin the Summer of Michigan. I have two guidebooks to write: Camping Michigan and Michigan’s Best Beer Guide (a sister book to my Wisconsin brewery road-trip guide). Busy? Yes. But glad to have the work (and the air miles)!

Hope you all follow along!

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Pictured: two great friends, former Peace Corps volunteers in Guatemala, one of whom I met on the balcony of a hostel in Panama City. We kept in touch and I came to veg out at their place in St. Croix for a month when I first decided to drop out of all other employment and just do travel writing. I owe them a lot of inspiration. Weeks later I was back, on my first book assignment for Rough Guides covering all of the Virgin Islands, US and British.

Here they are strolling the loveliest beach in all of the US Virgin Islands, Sandy Point on St. Croix. It was featured in The Shawshank Redemption at the very end (posing as Mexico). Because it is out on a point beyond a wide and lush nature preserve, there is no view of civilization unless you walk way down around the bend. It has the potential to be dangerous, what with the seclusion and all, but in groups we always felt OK. It’s a perfect place for a beach picnic and a swim.

The last time I was there, a hurricane far offshore had reached out with some turbulent waves and rubbed the beach down to some of the large boulders underneath. Such is the nature of beaches – they can come and go.

TRAVEL PHOTOS OF THE WEEK 2012: Week 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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Music is everywhere in Havana, drifting through the air, around the corner, in that shop over there, out that window up there. I found these two street musicians in a small square in Old Havana. They weren’t playing the blues (it was “son” music) but the colors suggested otherwise. Shot with a Pentax K1000 and Fuji Superia film.

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(This photo is a submission for Travel Photo Roulette, a weekly roundup of photos submitted according to a changing theme. The round’s winner hosts the next round.)