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Easier to travel?

I left in winter break 2022 expecting 3 week quarantine to come back with no such demands. This spring break is the first vacation where I left knowing the pandemic was “over” and this time there was not a big production and requirements for actually leaving China. It reminds me of pre-covid China. Things are definitely looking like normal in China and activities have resumed. We went from everything about down to everything opened in a short period of time.

I had knee surgery 5 weeks ago for an almost completely torn meniscus and other problems with cartilage that had no other option. Besides going to and from school and doctors appointments, I have really not been many places around Guangzhou. I was only given the okay to go on this trip based on the short length of flight and that I promised not to do too much …people who know me know how hard that is. But I want to recover for summer and will be smart about it. That being said, moving slower and always needing to be aware of my limitations wears me out. I have also found i still need to put my foot up even though a week ago I was finally allowed to bend the knee when sitting. It will be another month or two before I can put weight on it when in a bent position.

The metro had people actually not wearing masks. It has been a long time since I was on the metro. (Sometime in the future I’ll comment on my thoughts about all of that.)

That actually was true of the airplane as well. There was not a full flight leaving China perhaps due to the delay in visas for Chinese to leave on vacation.

Landing in another country was so easy. Cambodia is incredibly fast for getting off the plane and to your hotel in short order.

Because of this, it is not easier to travel for me. But I am glad to be able to go somewhere and relax with a little sightseeing.

Cambodia here I come…..

Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province

This was a trip I have wanted to do for some time but it either did not fit into my schedule or there were problems with travel due to COVID-19. Even though this trip is 12 hours after landing back in China after almost a month traveling, i felt it was the right time to go. I wasn’t ready to be back in my apartment and still have a bit over two weeks before school starts.

After arriving I went to the Gaozhuang night market. I but too crowded for me so I bought some food on the streets of the village and then wandered back to the hotel. This area is close to the Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand border with China.

We visited the Botanical garden which included jungle trails.

This is a very poisonous plant, the poison being in the spines on the leaves.

This is one fig tree that makes up most of this part of the forest. It grows downwards to make me roots.

Royal lotus.
These are so large that children can float on them.

We visited a Dai village. This is one of the ethnic minorities here in China. They follow the Buddhist tradition and their housing styles are similar to Thai.

Naga is the highest transformation of awareness and holds the Earth’s wisdom and power.

Sticky rice that is pressed and dried then cooked over coals to puff up. Delicious.

Wild elephant valley is a preserve where the wild Asian elephants still roam. They actually travel between here and Laos and if lucky you can see one. I was glad we did. Here is a link to video as well: https://youtu.be/a2xod6R_N2E

Of course they do have elephants for shows and feeding which I hate to see but it is random whether you see a wild elephant in the park.

Dragon fruit plant which is a type of cactus.

We traveled to Manzhang village which is another Dai village.

Trail walking through a rubber tree forest. The marks at the top start the latex sap flowing.

This gentleman is a doctor of old Chinese medicine and he was collecting his medicines.

Manting Park is the oldest styles of architecture and also history of the local royal family which ended rein in 1950’s. The oldest temple is here.

Washing your hands and face is said to take away your sins and bring goodness.

Stupa for holding religious artifacts after death.

Spotted this kitty at the base of one of the statues.

Delicious lunch. Omelet with a local fern like vegetable and fried little fish that were yummy.

Afterwards, our last stop was a hike through the Nannuo tea mountain forest and to try some tea. This village is the Hani people, another ethnic minority.

Two leaves and a tip are picked for tea. They must be young leaves from the top.

Wood is loaded underneath for a fire and the leaves are roasted at specific times after picking to make the different types of teas.

Another morning in China and I think I made the right decision to go elsewhere in the world. There are things I love about China and the people here but many I will not miss. Immigration coming back in was longer with more questions despite having four consecutive years of visas and proof of where I work. It wasn’t this difficult fine years ago. Some people will watch videos while in nature with the volume set to high, they are unaware of where they are in relation to others and unconcerned if they block paths, and there is just so many people when traveling. It sounds like I am just complaining but haber heard that from other nationalities when I travel. Of course, I am aware that I most likely do things that people don’t like when I travel, but this discussion is most likely best suited for a future post.

Jakarta National Museum and surroundings in central Jakarta

National Museum has many spaces going back thousands of years. It is interesting to look at the sculptures and see the change in detail just within another century.

Ganesh(a) is the elephant-headed Hindu god of beginnings, who is traditionally worshipped before any major enterprise and is the patron of intellectuals, bankers, scribes, and authors. He is also attributed to scientists. I actually love looking at statues of this good before I knew what he stood for.

Keris is an asymmetrical dagger and it’s used in birth to death ceremonies as well as protection. The hilt of the sword is carved and can contain jewels depending upon status. The person who makes it can also give it mythical powers. It is steeped in mythology and many rituals.

The statue on the left is that of Brahma, the Creator in Hinduism. The biggest feature is the four heads. This statue dates back to the 8th century and is from northern central java.

This is an actual piggyback dating back to the Majapahit empire era around 1293. Called a celengan, which means pig, the primer became aware of saving culture. The pig is a symbol of wealth.

A Majahapit nobleman descended from a royal family and became the king in Sumatra. 13-14 AD.

This is the presidential palace in the same area.

A spire of the Istiqial Mosque which is the largest in southeast Asia and the third largest in the world. Most of Indonesia is predominantly Muslim. As we approached, they were giving the call to prayer. In Bali, they are predominantly Hindu.

Directly across the street is the Jakarta Cathedral. Its bells were ringing at the same time. Inside there was a wedding beginning.

We only toured some areas and attractions and focused on looking at three local life and try different foods. Maybe one day I can come back and see other areas like Sumatra….

Jakarta

It didn’t want to leave Flores and the Komodo Islands. I love nature and can find plenty to do in small cities. But we needed to spend a few days in Jakarta to get COVID PCR test to return to China. The hotel had a great pool and I only wanted to go a few places to tour.

We took a half day tour to see old Batavia. This was the capital of the Dutch East Indies along the northeast coat of Java. They took over surrounding kingdoms in these islands in benefit of their trade. It was a European colony for hundreds of years until invasion by Japan. Indonesia gained their independence in 1945. This statue commemorates their independence.

Old style boats that are still being used. Some are designed for cargo and use holds as well as putting cargo on the deck. Others carry passengers.

This man is taking large jugs of water
to sell to people who do not have access to water.

Original building for markets that is now a museum.

We rode in this three wheel car called a Bajaj.

This is an old draw bridge for boats to pass under. Jembotan kotan intan.

We stopped for refreshments of Indonesian herbal health drinks. The drinks are very tasty and make from fresh spices.

We visited a puppet maker to learn how he makes these thin puppets from goat skin that are so beautiful and take such time to make. He shared a short example of a puppet play that tells stories of past events in Indonesian history.

These are pictures of the shadow puppet presentation.

At first the dutch recognized the Chinese immigrants as good traders. But at one point the economy could not support more Chinese coming in. They told the Chinese they were going to be taken to an island but instead they were massacred. The red house which was a governor mansion was much later purchased by a Chinese woman and kept as a remembrance.

The end of this cannon is actually a lewd gesture in Indonesian. Much like the middle finger! Today many believe it can help with fertility to give offering and prayer here.

We also went to Chinatown.

Near the hotel was an antique market. I love to look at many of these old things in different countries.

Random walks let us easily see different foods and people on the street.

Not sure what these are for but we had a lot of fun making many guesses as to their uses.

Breakfast one morning was lontong sayur. Tofu, egg, steamed rice cake, and vegetables in s spicy broth.

While at breakfast could not help but laugh at this guy out the window who danced and mimed. Of course then we gave him money.

I also ordered pete goreng which is fried stink beans. It has a slightly pungent taste but not stinky by any standards. I also ordered tempe. Ordering sambal or spicy sauce on the side makes everything tastier. I really love Asian food especially Indonesian.

Snorkeling and beaches…A pink beach!

East Nusa Tenggara, the pink beach, gets is pink color from the brilliant red coral that degrades when the coral itself dies and the skeleton of calcium carbonate breaks apart. From a distance it is hard to see the pink but at the waters edge of is pretty spectacular.

We went snorkeling and I took some pretty cool videos here: https://youtu.be/JFaOk4JRY0c and https://youtu.be/SLR-uApupVo. I even found nemo: https://youtu.be/VWqyp_vs4X0

Turtle bay, Sivi island

Next we went to snorkel to look for turtles. Here is where I made my biggest mistakes. It was pretty deep water and I’m not a very strong swimmer. With the current, I could not really pay attention to the camera I had and as a result I did not get the actual footage of the large turtle in front of me which was spectacular. Next time a life vest would give me more peace of mind to attend to the camera. I did get some pictures but the turtle was actually much closer to me after I took them. Though heartbroken I can’t share what I saw when it was literally right in front of me, maybe it was just meant for me to enjoy.

Snorkeling in Menjerite bay

This was deep water and yes I wore a life vest. I did get some decent video here. https://youtu.be/6bKrOFrPKN0, https://youtu.be/iezli6sP_dI, https://youtu.be/wbhHtQf-zm8, and https://youtu.be/7rPmB0cCjvc.

Kelor Island, snorkeling and trekking

We took a speed boat in to the island. The top of the island is a great panorama viewpoint. The snorkeling was okay but there were incredible large schools of fish. The fish that close to shore are very aggressive and would nip at your legs. It did not hurt but was surprising and over and over became very annoying.

Snorkeling videos: https://youtu.be/Ki2pv_OkgKw and https://youtu.be/jT4AQuCIsAo.

The plan is to climb to the top and take pictures.

Our guide and owner of Filan Travel. He worked so hard to make a great trip by adjusting what was our most important things we wanted to see.

During low tide is a good time to work on the boat.

Afterwards we went back to the boat to clean up and have lunch. We had a little time to walk around Labuan Bajo.

We had a flight to Jakarta in mid afternoon. If I were to do it again I would stay another day. A proper shower with warm water would have been appreciated. But we had a lot to plan around and chose the flight back to China earlier based upon the current 8 day quarantine which ended up being changed to no quarantine. We also should not have booked our flight out so early but we were not sure what was going to happen and all indication at the time showed not a loosening of restrictions.

Komodo dragons

Komodo national park is composed of a few islands. The largest is komodo island and the second largest is Pusua Rinca. We visited both over the live aboard boat tour.

I have wanted to see Komodo dragons for a long time. This boat tour is one of the better ways to pack in a lot of things in one trip. Plus there is only two of us. Things are more customized that way. As the weather had been bad, no one could get to the Islands for about a week. We lucked out that it was open the day we started. But with impending rain we decided to do it the first day instead of the second, just in case.

Komodo dragons

Led by two rangers we toured a very small part of the island and learned about the dragons.

Males are larger than females and can be as long as 10 feet and about 330 pounds.
They can liver up to 30 years
They are endangered and this is the only place you can see them in nature in the world.
They have lived in these Lesser Sunda Islands for millions of years.
They lay 30 eggs in deep diagonal holes in mounds used by a kiwi bird for the same purpose. Many animals will try to eat the eggs so the female guards the nest for the first three months until the rainy season comes. Then the holes are undiscoverable.
They mate once a year. If males not present, females have both chromosomes so can actually create eggs by parthenogenesis. Unfortunately, in this manner there are only males hatched.
Juveniles run to the trees after hatching as they can be eaten by just about everything including other dragons. They live in small lizards, insects, etc and only come down once in awhile. Add use the law of nature only about 10% make it to adulthood.
The dragons have venom glands with toxins that stop clotting and lower blood pressure. There is also 500 species of bacteria that provide fast infection. Their serrated teeth leave large wounds. They can even take down a water buffalo. Many will feed on one animal and may fight for the food.
They can eat 80% of their weight but only eat every month or so.

Komodo Island

Timor deer and wild boar are some of the prey here. There are some amazing species here at it is a protected park.

The dragons were amazing. I was able to get within a few meters of them. They are incredible. If they want to move they can do it very quickly.

This is an optical illusion. I’m not that close.

Rinca Island

This has an actual information center and elevated paths but it is not a zoo. They don’t keep the dragons in the area as they come and go as they please.

We noticed a juvenile moving quickly away. He was sensing the air with his tongue that all the other dragons were moving into the area. Smart guy to get away. You can see him here: https://youtu.be/tud0SWFHbjk

As we walked along we noticed a deer laying under the walkway. There was one komodo dragon about 20 meters away. After visiting the information center, we saw that more dragons came near the other one. We are pretty sure the deer had been bitten and the scent drew in the other dragons. They can smell blood 4 km away. Now they just wait for the deer to be near death.

Both islands have a few villages on them. Life is pretty tough for the residents who are mostly fishermen. Their houses are mostly on stilts due to tides but also as komodo dragons roam the islands freely. Of course they can climb stairs so keeping doors closed is important. I’m sure they house there goats, chickens, and cats that we saw.

The villagers also make the komodo dragon carvings that you can buy. They have statues and also small ones that are magnets.

We also did a fair amount of snorkeling…..

Labuan Bajo

From Denpasar, the flight to Labuan Bajo is a little over an hour. It is further east from Bali on a large island called East Nusa Tenggara. From here I will stay one night at the Sylvia Resort komodo and will be picked up by the tour operator to travel to the boat in the morning.

There is not much around except for resorts scattered at the end of winding mountain roads. Sometimes it is better just to relax and enjoy the quiet which was made easier with its own beach and pools.

The next morning, after breakfast (and feeding the pussy gato friends I made by giving fish to just one of them the night before), we were picked up for our live aboard tour.

Call this light glamping. A bed, places to hang out…. We paid for a boat with air conditioning. You are on a boat so the bathroom is minimal with a toilet you use scoops of water to flush and a shower with little pressure. It is a typical Asian bathroom you might see in a smaller hotel (usually they have more water pressure for good reason).

They fed us so much food. All typically the same: rice, noodles, fried eggplant, vegetables, tempeh/tofu, fried fish, eggs and pancake for breakfast, fried bananas for a snack, and always fresh fruit.

Not much of an inconvenience as it is only two nights and the only way to see some really incredible things! The scenery through the area was amazing and we made several stops along the way which are in the next posts. Walking up on the water, having a whole crew just wanting you to be safe and happy was all part of the experience.

This is the ring of fire where the islands have been created by volcanoes. Many small villages exist for fishing but not every island is inhabited. Komodo national park has three large islands. Some villages are on them but no tourists can stay.

Sunrise saw the flying foxes which are actually megabats that feed on fruit coming back to where they nest for the day.

Sunset was amazing as well and you could see the flying foxes leaving their nests to feed on the fruit. These are the largest bats in the world and incredible to watch thousands fly over head.

Here is a video to watch: https://youtu.be/OceIxFyU4NU

We stayed in Flores and sailed to komodo island and back stopping at points along the way.

Uluwatu, Bali

Uluwatu is the southernmost tip of Bali. It is mostly a place for surfers as the waves are best suited for that sport. It was a great time to just lay on a beach for awhile and find other good tasting food. I started at D’Padang which is a short walk from Thomas Beach. Less people and more beach.

A religious holiday has these special bamboo with decorations outside each place.

Couldn’t help snapping a picture as he was waiting for me when I went to get some coffee.

Breakfast at Suka was Chinese inspired with Sichuan hot sauce and Asian slaw.
Delicious food here in Bali.

We watched the person and dog surfing. The dog was much better but swam back after falling twice.

Walking along the beach I noticed all the sea life. Of course I had to take pictures to use in my biology classes.

There is a crab in here if you zoom in on the picture.

We took a tour to uluwatu beach. Thomas beach near the hotel is much bigger and better. But there are monkeys at this one…

Afterwards, we went to uluwatu temple. More monkeys and these were mischievous. As we walked along the cliff, two monkeys stole glasses and a cell phone from other visitors.

We then watched the kecak fire dance. Instead of musicians, the background music is sounds uttered by up to 70 men. The dance is about good and evil. The dance is also a medium between the early world and the spirits.

The monkey in the dance was pretty fun. He traveled through the audience acting as a monkey would, taking things, sitting on people…

A walk looking over where people surf but obviously we are awake too early for the surfers.

Next stop is a one hour flight to Flores to board a boat and tour Komodo Island

The end and beginning of a year

Walking around Ubud and shopping we happened upon a coffee shop owner who has a domesticated civet. I was able to pet it. It was pretty calm but also they don’t see well during the day as they are nocturnal.

New years eve I watched Rocketman at a local restaurant then went to the Lokal bar next to the hotel. No live music but a family from Holland was playing their playlist and we started dancing. Many people passing by joined us. The next morning people addressed me as dancing queen. They said that dancing never happens there but the owners were happy as there were more thirsty people. I wouldn’t have made it to midnight of I didn’t get up to dance.

The first morning of 2023.

After breakfast I walked past the pedestrian market to the rice field. It was so peaceful and there are villas you can rent there. Every new years I go for a walk in nature. To be in Bali and take in the peaceful countryside was amazing. A woman was selling coconut water and it was lovely talking to her.

I went to the Ubud temple. In Buddhism, temples can be somewhat similar but have different bodhisattva that are the focus. The temples are a bit different. In Hindu, the temples are much more alike.

Next I am off to the bottom of Bali to an area called Uluwatu.

Touring Ubud

To see some of the sights around Ubud it was better to hire a guide for a full day rather than negotiate traffic ourselves. The day started with breakfast served on my veranda.

The first stop was a barong and keris dance that represents the eternal fight between good and evil. The good being a barong which is a mythical animal and the evil being a rangda which is a mythical monster. The music is traditional and I liked this music. The same instruments are used to call people to prayer every morning.

The video of excerpts of the dance or together can be seen here: https://youtu.be/-TBBHDi-30o

A tiger appears and helped with the monkey fight men in the forest.

Servants of the rangda dance. They are looking for servants of Dewi Kunti who they will bewitch in order to sacrifice Dewi Kunti’s son Sadewa to the rangda.

Sadewa tied to the tree for sacrifice. The god Siwa however gives him immortality.

Followers of the barong. There is a portion of the dance that is pretty funny when they encounter a boar. Their humor and timing was pretty great. It was a good time that I forgot to take pictures.

Next stop was learning how batik and silver jewelry were made. They employ villagers to make crafts sold here in Bali.

After this (and spending money on amazing silver earrings with moonstones from Bali and larimar stones from Madagascar) we went to the Pura puseh temple. I knew that every house and business has a temple but learned that every neighborhood has a larger temple for community prayer and offering.

Then a waterfall.

Then on to the coffee plantation. This plantation has civets for kope luwak. This is where the civets eat the berries, it is processed slightly during digestion, then collected, cleaned, roasted, and dried after excretion. The coffee is generally expensive but cheaper here in Bali. Though I know it is not the same as collecting the seeds from wild civet poo, it still is legit. These civets are fed the berries instead of foraging in the wild.

Luwak coffee is stronger than typical Balinese. We bought cassava and banana chips to eat.

We also were given free samples of many other types of coffee and tea they produce.

The last stop was at the rice terraces. A bit disappointing as it was very commercialized with zip lining, right rope biking, or swinging. A little underwhelming after hiking for two days through rice terraces in China and only encountering small villages.

After an 11 hour day we grabbed dinner. The number of vegan and vegetarian places are amazing here. Balinese food also has many naturally vegan dishes to begin with. I should have packed everything and just stayed here until the end of the year. It is amazing.