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Kir, tickled pink, on the porch of our homestay in Sanur. |
I’ve had a great last 3 weeks exploring a different island with my daughter Kirsten and another volunteer, Pam, who has finished her placement & will be returning to Canada next month. I flew to Denpasar on June 17th & waited at the airport for Kir to arrive on a later flight from Toronto via Hong Kong. Absolutely super to see her, & excited to show her around the bits of the country with which I’ve become somewhat familiar. We spent several days in Sanur at the beach, browsing the fabric shops on Jalan Sulawesi in the city, & eating good food. Luckily most of the restaurants serve both western & Indonesian food, since I wanted the former & Kir indulged in nasi goreng & mie, with sambal, of course.
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Kir's dinner: very fancy nasi goreng
at restaurant in Labuan Bajo. |
We also rented a motorbike for half a day & spent a bit of time wandering back roads trying to find a particular beach up the coast. Did find it, but the surfing competition we wanted to catch was over for the day & postponed indefinitely due to wind & wave conditions. Still, fun to wander around independently without having to depend on public transport.
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A few monkeys in Ubud. |
Then, it was up to Ubud for 3 days to show Kir the monkey forest & the beautiful shops, traditional market & more great restaurants & coffee shops. So far, this is a touristy extravanganza & there are many more of us wandering the streets as it is a prime winter vacation spot for Australians & Europeans. Indonesians are also plentiful since most schools have just started a month-long break right now. Many volunteers want to show visiting family members their placement towns or villages, but I was craving a bit of luxury - so our vacation skipped the whole island of Sulawesi. If Kir decides to visit again in the next year, I’ll bring her up to the tiny village of Bengo & show her the delights (?) of Makassar.
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Kir comparing the taste of Lay's
salmon teriyaki chips to a previous
experience with Pringle's
seaweed flavour. |
Week 2 of the trip had us on a plane to Labuan Bajo on the island of Flores, a well-known destination for diving, snorkeling & seeing the komodo dragons. We planned on 2 out of these 3, neither of us having current dive certification. Pam was waiting for us at the hotel, newly arrived from saying her goodbyes in Kupang, West Timor, where she had been living for the better part of the last 2 years. The hotel was top-notch at a good price, arranged through one of Pam’s friends. Beach front & pool, lovely sunsets.
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View from the 8th floor of our hotel, over the harbour of Labuan Bajo. |
Next post: pictures of lazy komodo dragons & volcanic lakes (stay tuned).