Selamat Datang [Hello in Balinese],
In Sanur we cycled by the beach and on the way back they turned all the lights off by the beach because it was really very windy and all the warangs closed so when we cycled back it was pitch black! All you could see was the moon. I was at the front with Alex and mummy behind me and I had to cycle all the way back to our hotel in the dark it was frightening but we made it!
The next morning we got to the white water rafting shack and they put life jackets and helmets on then we got our paddle and walked down about five hundred steps! When we got there we got in the boat and there were two chinese ladies, two swedish ladies, mummy, alex, me and the guide. The guide kept saying to the chinese ladies 'monkey pee pee, monkey pee pee, anoconda', He then threw a green plant stem in the boat saying 'snake!!! The chinese ladies nearly jumped out! He also deliberately bashed the boat against rocks to make us all jump!
Mr Boy picked us up early the next day for cycling. We made friends with a dutch man and his bali wife and their little girl age nine in the van, They were great fun we taught them how to play rock, paper, scissors. At the cycling we saw a Balinese school and all the kids came running up to us because they had never seen white kids like us before in their school. We also saw a farm that grew coffee beans which were fed to the civet cats and then the coffee beans in their poo was made into coffee. They told us it is really good because the cats always eat the good beans.
On the journey across the mountains to Permuteran, me and Alex sat in the boot of the van on our suitcases looking out of the back window. We could see all the motor bikes and the crazy thing is only adults (and not all adults) where helmets not the kids. There were four people on one bike and also another bike had a dog standing up with it's paws on the handle bars. Our house in permuteran is on stilts with the toilet and shower outside. In our bathroom there are lots volcanic rocks which is cool. We went to the beach which is very very local. The sand is grey volcano sand. We found a local farm shack on the beach selling crafts.
We found a turtle conservation place which is part of a travellers guest house on the beach set up by an english man. We fed the turtles in the tanks. While we were there, fisherman brought up the beach a sick turtle in a wheel barrow. It was sad. The turtle had been caught in a net round it's arm and the flipper was all swollen up. the lady cut the rope off and it took three men to lift him into a tank. He had a cut on his neck and his leg. You could see the guts coming out of it's neck. But the lady put antibiotics in the water which made it purple. They said it would get better, You can release turtles into the sea but they did not have any old enough to go today.
See you again on my neck blog
yours sincerely Amie xxx
Wednesday, 29 July 2015
Alex in the crazy cycle trip
I went up the mountain and went cycling with my sister and my mummy. There was someone called 'dono' the leader, it rythmes with Jono and he is my uncle, which made me laugh. I had a bike that was yellow and had bumpy wheels and mummy had black and white adult bike. We stopped at a Indonesian school, there was really a lot of children who were talking and laughing while my mum took a photo. They like english football! There was a coffee plantation and they make the coffee beans out of the poo of a civet cat ....!! the civet cat looked cute but it had very sharp teeth so don't put your fingers in the cage if you see it. We also saw different types of coffee and the plants. we had lemon grass team and real chocolate from beans. we were going very fast and stopped at places like the school and farm and lots of rice paddies. When we stopped at one place we sawa cow with a pin through it's nose. We stopped near the chickens that fight where one dies and one stays a alive [cock fighting].
I accidently cycled across someone's rice drying out on black sheets all over the road. - mummy was shrieking a lot! We also cycled up a very step hill and I got half way.
that's it...
goodbye see you later when I do my next blog
Monday, 27 July 2015
sanur
Sanur
Amie's right the hotel is lovely, it's family run and one of the older Sanur hotels. Our room has stone carvings around the door and a little fountain opposite. The beach reminds me of Mozambique, white sands and a mix of local and tourist. I forgot I travelled round Mozambique before Amie, and also the trek up through Pakistan into the Himalayas before that (time flies when you have kids!).
Our first task was the money hunt....I (stupidly it turns out..) thought us dollar travellers cheques would be best....ur no. Travellers cheques are so outdated they result in much hilarity amongst most banker tellers...you inglish...so funny. Also, as far as Asia is concerned the US dollar is pants.. they are all about the pound out here...!!#
Anyway, found money changer..phew and hung out at local café. Alex had a go on the bongos, the chef plays guitar and we did go back later for the band but it was off that night. The kids have made all sorts of friends. A Russian girl at the hotel who speaks with the best US accent ever (international school!). Her family are also travelling around for a month.
The next night we got hold of some bikes. The man took one look at Alex and said no bikes for baby boys. Alex had the saddle down, flicked his leg onto a peddle and pushed off before the guy could blink - Jono would have been proud. We cycled down the coast and through the local beach areas and lots of Junking boats. They are painted with eyes and have wooden perpendicular supports. The kids loved it. We had pizza on the beach and alex was fascinated by a kite surfing competition.
White Water Rafting
I did so much research on where to go and what company. In the end it's the same river and the guides were the most important thing. They were a little crazy but great, these guys have grown up with the river and were fantastic. We were picked up at 8am and drive up into the foothills of mount Batur passed Ubud. Alex didn't feel great - which was a bit tricky but we survived without any dramas.
We got our kit and walked down to the river through the rain (?) forest. The river was cold but the rafting great fun, lots of different nationalities doing it. The Japanese all wore those bizarre plastic rain coats they give you at Wimbledon - there was even a Japanese granny cackling away over the rapids.. The children loved it - the forest was amazing - we went past tree walks with baskets the locals use to get over the river, Alex saw a massive lizard. No anacondas though, much to his disappointment. Lunch was rice and noodles. Amie now likes satay and they are both eating curry....they did get stuck into noodles for breakfast in Malaysia but promptly spat them out - we hadn't realised they are supposed to be boiled in the water provided first !!
Cycling
Yesterday we were picked up again and travelled up higher - we met guides with mountain bikes and cycled down the local roads and off road through lots of farms. It was fantastic - pretty hard going, I have to admit I was a little wobbly along the really narrow treks between ride paddies - Alex had it all in hand off course! The villages and farms were amazing. It did feel a bit intrusive at times..... We stopped at a local cooperative farm and the kids learned about cocoa, sugar and coffee. It was a coop of 25 farms - a lad formed the coop and had the bright idea of opening to tourists.
lessons learned
If you can't find what you are looking for in the first packed case don't bother........don't use travellers cheques and also think carefully about what you want from the trip. Ask, ask again and plan....
off to Permuteran today - four hours drive up north
Amie's right the hotel is lovely, it's family run and one of the older Sanur hotels. Our room has stone carvings around the door and a little fountain opposite. The beach reminds me of Mozambique, white sands and a mix of local and tourist. I forgot I travelled round Mozambique before Amie, and also the trek up through Pakistan into the Himalayas before that (time flies when you have kids!).
Our first task was the money hunt....I (stupidly it turns out..) thought us dollar travellers cheques would be best....ur no. Travellers cheques are so outdated they result in much hilarity amongst most banker tellers...you inglish...so funny. Also, as far as Asia is concerned the US dollar is pants.. they are all about the pound out here...!!#
Anyway, found money changer..phew and hung out at local café. Alex had a go on the bongos, the chef plays guitar and we did go back later for the band but it was off that night. The kids have made all sorts of friends. A Russian girl at the hotel who speaks with the best US accent ever (international school!). Her family are also travelling around for a month.
The next night we got hold of some bikes. The man took one look at Alex and said no bikes for baby boys. Alex had the saddle down, flicked his leg onto a peddle and pushed off before the guy could blink - Jono would have been proud. We cycled down the coast and through the local beach areas and lots of Junking boats. They are painted with eyes and have wooden perpendicular supports. The kids loved it. We had pizza on the beach and alex was fascinated by a kite surfing competition.
White Water Rafting
I did so much research on where to go and what company. In the end it's the same river and the guides were the most important thing. They were a little crazy but great, these guys have grown up with the river and were fantastic. We were picked up at 8am and drive up into the foothills of mount Batur passed Ubud. Alex didn't feel great - which was a bit tricky but we survived without any dramas.
We got our kit and walked down to the river through the rain (?) forest. The river was cold but the rafting great fun, lots of different nationalities doing it. The Japanese all wore those bizarre plastic rain coats they give you at Wimbledon - there was even a Japanese granny cackling away over the rapids.. The children loved it - the forest was amazing - we went past tree walks with baskets the locals use to get over the river, Alex saw a massive lizard. No anacondas though, much to his disappointment. Lunch was rice and noodles. Amie now likes satay and they are both eating curry....they did get stuck into noodles for breakfast in Malaysia but promptly spat them out - we hadn't realised they are supposed to be boiled in the water provided first !!
Cycling
Yesterday we were picked up again and travelled up higher - we met guides with mountain bikes and cycled down the local roads and off road through lots of farms. It was fantastic - pretty hard going, I have to admit I was a little wobbly along the really narrow treks between ride paddies - Alex had it all in hand off course! The villages and farms were amazing. It did feel a bit intrusive at times..... We stopped at a local cooperative farm and the kids learned about cocoa, sugar and coffee. It was a coop of 25 farms - a lad formed the coop and had the bright idea of opening to tourists.
lessons learned
If you can't find what you are looking for in the first packed case don't bother........don't use travellers cheques and also think carefully about what you want from the trip. Ask, ask again and plan....
off to Permuteran today - four hours drive up north
alex's blog
blogging is really boring, mum keeps asking me and it's boring......temple monkeys are now cool though, local dogs were a bit dodgy but are now also very cool, especially uno the white one at the beach - he reminds me of grandad's dog matty...white water rafting is also dead cool. Especially the guide who kept shouting ''watch out, watch out ..monkey pee pee ..' and also 'anaconda...anaconda...' to scare the chinese ladies in our boat. I now think it's really funny to yell 'monkey pee pee' all the time..it makes mummy and amie laugh a lot.
the cycling today was such fun. I was really grumpy at the beginning because Amie had a bigger bike than me but it was so great I forgot to be grumpy......
the cycling today was such fun. I was really grumpy at the beginning because Amie had a bigger bike than me but it was so great I forgot to be grumpy......
Sunday, 26 July 2015
white water rafting on Agung River -n kids were fantastic - alex looks very little!
cycling up to north of Sanur - pizza on beach in front of posh hotel watching kite surfers
kids playing in a local warang - cycled through lots of warangs full of locals having bbqs
the kuningan festival - really interesting but men in masks so freaked kids out at bit!!
Friday, 24 July 2015
Amie's blog from Bali
every shop have these leaves made into baskets filled with lots of food and flowers for the gods because it is a festival tomorrow. tomorrow is a big fesitval and we are going to go to the local temple to see it.
mummy showed me bargaining for a sarong - she got it from 100, 000 to 60,0000!! w found a cool local roadside cafe and we are going their tonight for proper indonesian food and a band.
by our room there is lots of cavvings and waterfalls.
good bye to KL
so we packed up and got ready to go, after finding possibly the only sony repair centre in all of KL (to fix our treasured new camera - which we, of course, managed to break,,,).
we got to the airport ...all good..checked in and waited to board. whilst boarding we were asked to stop and head back to the terminal....uh oh... after a two hour wait and much toe tapping by many waiting, they announced all flights that day were cancelled due to another eruption on Java.. totally chaos ensued. all nationalities falling over themselves trying to work out what to do.
I them committed a fatal error .. I forgot the cardinal rule of travel, ask, ask again and then ask one more time just to be sure...
We ended up queuing for two hours in one queue only to be told we had to collect out luggage and then rebook tickets in the main terminal....ahh....so we picked up our luggage and headed to the airline offices as instructed which was not in fact the airlline office but the check in for flight attendants. We then changed floors and the lift doors opened to total chaos. Queues, children screaming and all sorts arguing. We dutifully queued (again) for our token) and then again..to be seen. Finally we were rebooked for the next day (assuming the flight was a go... the kids were great, we managed to navigate the (or at least Amie did) and find the railway station. Back to our hotel in KL - slight technical hitch being that we (again) ended up on the wrong side of the freeway from our hotel. I will remember for all eternity the kids pushing wheely cases along a major road up to the htoel and several hotel staff rushing out to great us in horror!
Next day we were finally off!!!after finally establishing the right queue (not making that mistake again..) we lined up to check in. Huge queue until a shirt and tie man appeared and intructed staff to open another check in and ushered us forward. It was hiliarious, a chinese tour guide saw that gap, usain bolt had nothing on her, she was off.... but shirt and tie man was faster (unbelievably) up came the hand ..no auntie you are in the first queue!
flight great - alex made a mayalsian friend and swapped computer games the whole way.
we got to the airport ...all good..checked in and waited to board. whilst boarding we were asked to stop and head back to the terminal....uh oh... after a two hour wait and much toe tapping by many waiting, they announced all flights that day were cancelled due to another eruption on Java.. totally chaos ensued. all nationalities falling over themselves trying to work out what to do.
I them committed a fatal error .. I forgot the cardinal rule of travel, ask, ask again and then ask one more time just to be sure...
We ended up queuing for two hours in one queue only to be told we had to collect out luggage and then rebook tickets in the main terminal....ahh....so we picked up our luggage and headed to the airline offices as instructed which was not in fact the airlline office but the check in for flight attendants. We then changed floors and the lift doors opened to total chaos. Queues, children screaming and all sorts arguing. We dutifully queued (again) for our token) and then again..to be seen. Finally we were rebooked for the next day (assuming the flight was a go... the kids were great, we managed to navigate the (or at least Amie did) and find the railway station. Back to our hotel in KL - slight technical hitch being that we (again) ended up on the wrong side of the freeway from our hotel. I will remember for all eternity the kids pushing wheely cases along a major road up to the htoel and several hotel staff rushing out to great us in horror!
Next day we were finally off!!!after finally establishing the right queue (not making that mistake again..) we lined up to check in. Huge queue until a shirt and tie man appeared and intructed staff to open another check in and ushered us forward. It was hiliarious, a chinese tour guide saw that gap, usain bolt had nothing on her, she was off.... but shirt and tie man was faster (unbelievably) up came the hand ..no auntie you are in the first queue!
flight great - alex made a mayalsian friend and swapped computer games the whole way.
Tuesday, 21 July 2015
Kuala Lumpur
So we arrived in KL around 4pm, all very tired indeed. The kids were amazing, Alex had a pretty rough night on the plane, he had trouble sleeping so I ended up squidged against the window trying to give him room to lay out, not a great way to kip!
Our hotel is quite posh but old, it's great, it has a pool....! which is I have realised is essential for us. The kids have been rushing around interested in everything, swimming afterwards is sooo great for them. That night we went off to explore. We are in the banking area near the Petronas Tower, it's so Asian. Fabulous architecture and amazing 'malls' interspersed with mad roads, half dug trenches, cables, building works and no footpaths (at all..), loads of mopeds and street stalls. We managed to navigate our way to the Petronas Towers (ugly but stunning..) without getting killed - seriously no pavements! The kids were horrified by the smells (both), amazed by the mopeds with kids hanging off (Alex) and ladies covered completely (amie). Amie can't get over the covered women here and all the little girls in the pool wearing full scale black costumes neck to toe. She keeps asking why, which is hard to explain when there was a men with a skimpy teashirt and his man boobs hanging out at breakfast... She also can't get over the heat - she has been really shocked !
Yesterday we slept late and headed to the Batu Caves by train. At reception, after asking if I was alone (a very common question..), they were all desperate for us to use taxis.. But we have our secret weapon. Amie is a brilliant navigator - she has sussed the monorail, tube and train network completely and got us to the batu caves without a hitch (not counting the dodgy loos at the train station - kids not impressed at all...!).
The Batu Caves were a crazy tourist fest, 202 steps (we counted) up to a serious of huge caves and hundreds (literally) of thieving monkeys. The kids couldn't believe it. Alex was not all keen and held my hand all the way around (something he hasn't done since he was four, but Amie loved it, snapping photos all the way (I have had no look in at all with my new camera!). We had roti and curry for lunch at a road side stall and the kids got henna tattoos. We had a great time. We went to the railway station behind hotel to get back. Any sane person would assume that you would be able to access the central business district (and hotel) outside the station, but no, there is a massive flyover totally blocking the way....?! Was all good though, as we found ourselves in a Malay Kampung full of houses on stilts and street stalls. This was of absolutely no interest at all to the children, who were busy counting and photographing the local cat population.... sigh...
In the evening we took a monorail to China town and Petaling Street. Roads of shop houses and crazy Chinese selling knock off kit to tourists, interspersed with food stalls and small temples. The kids were fascinated, especially when I started bargaining for things. Alex thought this was great fun, Amie was very worried I was ripping people off because I was not paying the displayed price....bless her. She soon got the hang of it. Times have changed, it used to be all coco channel, now it's Cath Kidson anyone.....?!
Today we took a train to the local Chinese suburb. I really wanted the kids to see a wet market. It didn't disappoint. There was a shiny new Malay shopping mall adjacent to the local Chinese markets. It was chaos. A covered, dark place with a rabbit warren of stalls all chopping chickens, fish and vegetables. The floor was awash with veg, chicken guts and fish bones. The kids were stunned, Amie was filming when Alex saw a huge rat run passed us, he was shrieking and pointing as it zipped under a stall, much to the hilarity of the locals. It was great to speak Chinese again. We stopped a few times and the conversation in Chinese was pretty much standard...!
hello Aunty (me)
ahhh....you speak Chinese...wahhhh
Aunty then says: where your husband....?.(always first question)
he is not here aunty ..(I was tempted each time to say 'law di Chang' which is chinese phrase for 'I am the last orange in the basket' ..but that would have really confused the old ladies, given I had kids...)
the next statement is always...'you are sooo tall'
,
yes, auntie I am English I am tall, my children are tall, you are Chinese auntie, you are small,
much cackling from Aunty and other market aunties
where you learn Chinese..your children speak it..?
in HK auntie, they were born in England - they do not 'gong' (speak)
ahhh, boy, he very handsome ...(aunties always rate boys,,,girls not so much)
you be careful tall lady..we good Chinese,.. lots of very bad Chinese in those tourist places, they take your bag if you no careful.
Classic....
We also went round the pet market turtles in plastic bags, dead hamsters in cages- was good for the children to see. They have realised that English pets are very well treated !!!
We are now chilling - lots of photos to follow including Amie's video of the wet market. They are really loving it - I am so proud of them, they are tired but still up for anything. KL has is so familiar - it has made me seriously consider work overseas again!!
Amie and Ales's blog to follow.
Amie's blog: I really enjoyed how I got to see all the amazing things in the market we were lucky to see rats running around, the amazing fruits and the chicken's waiting for their heads to be chopped off. Right now we are eating rambutan, they are prickly red things and you have to break them open to eat them.
The Batu Caves were enormous. The dark cave has bats in, I really liked the Ramayana Cave . I thought it was really interesting with all the ornaments inside and the stalactights and stalacmights growing.
The Chinese market was huge. We got to see. Men making bean pudding by mashing up all the red beans in a huge pot which was boiling and all the smells were disgusting.
Our hotel is quite posh but old, it's great, it has a pool....! which is I have realised is essential for us. The kids have been rushing around interested in everything, swimming afterwards is sooo great for them. That night we went off to explore. We are in the banking area near the Petronas Tower, it's so Asian. Fabulous architecture and amazing 'malls' interspersed with mad roads, half dug trenches, cables, building works and no footpaths (at all..), loads of mopeds and street stalls. We managed to navigate our way to the Petronas Towers (ugly but stunning..) without getting killed - seriously no pavements! The kids were horrified by the smells (both), amazed by the mopeds with kids hanging off (Alex) and ladies covered completely (amie). Amie can't get over the covered women here and all the little girls in the pool wearing full scale black costumes neck to toe. She keeps asking why, which is hard to explain when there was a men with a skimpy teashirt and his man boobs hanging out at breakfast... She also can't get over the heat - she has been really shocked !
Yesterday we slept late and headed to the Batu Caves by train. At reception, after asking if I was alone (a very common question..), they were all desperate for us to use taxis.. But we have our secret weapon. Amie is a brilliant navigator - she has sussed the monorail, tube and train network completely and got us to the batu caves without a hitch (not counting the dodgy loos at the train station - kids not impressed at all...!).
The Batu Caves were a crazy tourist fest, 202 steps (we counted) up to a serious of huge caves and hundreds (literally) of thieving monkeys. The kids couldn't believe it. Alex was not all keen and held my hand all the way around (something he hasn't done since he was four, but Amie loved it, snapping photos all the way (I have had no look in at all with my new camera!). We had roti and curry for lunch at a road side stall and the kids got henna tattoos. We had a great time. We went to the railway station behind hotel to get back. Any sane person would assume that you would be able to access the central business district (and hotel) outside the station, but no, there is a massive flyover totally blocking the way....?! Was all good though, as we found ourselves in a Malay Kampung full of houses on stilts and street stalls. This was of absolutely no interest at all to the children, who were busy counting and photographing the local cat population.... sigh...
In the evening we took a monorail to China town and Petaling Street. Roads of shop houses and crazy Chinese selling knock off kit to tourists, interspersed with food stalls and small temples. The kids were fascinated, especially when I started bargaining for things. Alex thought this was great fun, Amie was very worried I was ripping people off because I was not paying the displayed price....bless her. She soon got the hang of it. Times have changed, it used to be all coco channel, now it's Cath Kidson anyone.....?!
Today we took a train to the local Chinese suburb. I really wanted the kids to see a wet market. It didn't disappoint. There was a shiny new Malay shopping mall adjacent to the local Chinese markets. It was chaos. A covered, dark place with a rabbit warren of stalls all chopping chickens, fish and vegetables. The floor was awash with veg, chicken guts and fish bones. The kids were stunned, Amie was filming when Alex saw a huge rat run passed us, he was shrieking and pointing as it zipped under a stall, much to the hilarity of the locals. It was great to speak Chinese again. We stopped a few times and the conversation in Chinese was pretty much standard...!
hello Aunty (me)
ahhh....you speak Chinese...wahhhh
Aunty then says: where your husband....?.(always first question)
he is not here aunty ..(I was tempted each time to say 'law di Chang' which is chinese phrase for 'I am the last orange in the basket' ..but that would have really confused the old ladies, given I had kids...)
the next statement is always...'you are sooo tall'
,
yes, auntie I am English I am tall, my children are tall, you are Chinese auntie, you are small,
much cackling from Aunty and other market aunties
where you learn Chinese..your children speak it..?
in HK auntie, they were born in England - they do not 'gong' (speak)
ahhh, boy, he very handsome ...(aunties always rate boys,,,girls not so much)
you be careful tall lady..we good Chinese,.. lots of very bad Chinese in those tourist places, they take your bag if you no careful.
Classic....
We also went round the pet market turtles in plastic bags, dead hamsters in cages- was good for the children to see. They have realised that English pets are very well treated !!!
We are now chilling - lots of photos to follow including Amie's video of the wet market. They are really loving it - I am so proud of them, they are tired but still up for anything. KL has is so familiar - it has made me seriously consider work overseas again!!
Amie and Ales's blog to follow.
Amie's blog: I really enjoyed how I got to see all the amazing things in the market we were lucky to see rats running around, the amazing fruits and the chicken's waiting for their heads to be chopped off. Right now we are eating rambutan, they are prickly red things and you have to break them open to eat them.
The Batu Caves were enormous. The dark cave has bats in, I really liked the Ramayana Cave . I thought it was really interesting with all the ornaments inside and the stalactights and stalacmights growing.
The Chinese market was huge. We got to see. Men making bean pudding by mashing up all the red beans in a huge pot which was boiling and all the smells were disgusting.
Monday, 20 July 2015
The journey
After a rocky start we made it to Heathrow. I managed to stick myself with a screwdriver trying to fix the shower for Jono's sister to stay at ours...seriously...! So off the A&E the night before we left....ahhh.. 5 hour queue ....5 ...hours...!! I informed the rather bewildered nurse I would leg it and come back at 6am. Went back at six not a soul there. hurrah! Hand fixed but packing sadly delayed - lots of rushing around required. still, we made it to M & Ds all very excited. Amie and Alex besides themselves.
Heathrow terminal amazing. First time I have been on proper international flight for 19 years (?!) and the kids very first time. Flight went ok - all of us very, tired though, last week of term and the A&E drama.
KL mad and oddly familiar having lived in south-east Asia (although v v long time ago!).
Amie's blog:I was very excited about coming because I have never been to Malaysia before and mummy said it was really nice. I really loved the flight especially the food and the films ... I watched three movies!. It's boiling in Malaysia.
Alex's blog: I am asleep ....I am very tired now.
We have had a mad busy day so off to bed and will update tomorrow on our travels including henna hands, coke drinking monkeys, lots of temples, getting lost, three trains and lots of steps...
xxxx
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