Christina Marie's Travel Blog
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If there was one destination in all of Southeast Asia that I could revisit, hands down, it would be Bali. Even though the island is small, there are so many different types of landscapes and activities so there’s something for everyone. Once I got off the plane, picked up my luggage and went outside, I remembered to try to catch a cab from outside the airport gates. By doing this, I eliminated the airport tax!
The airport in theory is only a 15-minute drive from Kuta, a town known for shopping, bars and surfing; however, because of all the traffic, it took at least 40 minutes to get to where a few guesthouses were located. I’m lucky I came during low season (May) because everything was cheaper than normal.
Kuta usually attracts students from Australia and New Zealand during Spring Break. Although I was enjoying my solo traveling experience, Kuta would have been a good place to travel with at least one other person. It wasn’t the easiest place for me to meet people and I didn’t want to be one of those creepers sitting at the bar alone. The best part during my trip to Kuta was the most amazing hour-long massage I got for only $10USD (after tip)!
Instead of staying there longer than two days, I headed more inland to Ubud, which is where Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love lived. I easily met two other foreigners on the van ride over who let me tag along. They found in their Lonely Planet that locals in Ubud curse the book because of the influx of tourist that flock to their small town.
Ubud was an amazing place to visit and I wish I could have stayed there longer. It was so quaint and I was in good company. Two attractions that we enjoyed included the Sacred Monkey Forest and watching a traditional Balinese dance performance.
In summary, Bali is worth visiting and I highly encourage people to take a trip if their able to. To view photos from my time in Bali, please visit my Flickr photosteam by clicking here.
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Video: Traditional Balinese Dance
Video: Cute monkey at Sacred Monkey Forest in Bali
One of the last destinations on my five week backpacking adventure was Jakarta, the capital and largest city in Indonesia. Before I arrived, I learned that Jakarta was dubbed ‘The Big Durian,’ which for those who are familiar with this type of fruit, know that it smells like swamp ass; however, to many people, it has a sweet, delicious taste.
When my friend and I arrived at the airport and picked up our luggage, we were overwhelmed by number of taxi drivers trying to win our business. (Tourist Tip: we were forewarned by a few friends to not take any of the taxis inside the airport gate, but to rather walk outside and hail one there. By doing this, you avoid the any airport tax and save money.)
After arriving to a friend’s house to drop our stuff off, it was time to tour the city. There were a couple destinations we enjoyed visiting, but overall, Jakarta doesn’t have many attractions or get a large influx of tourists, and apparently has been the target of numerous terrorist attacks.
On the other hand, almost all the people I’ve met from Indonesia in general, turned out to be some of the nicest people I’ve ever encountered. If any of you should decide to visit Indonesia and check out Jakarta, you wouldn’t need more than a day.
Here are a few images from our trip:
To view the rest of my photos from Jakarta, please visit my Flickr photostream by clicking here.
This cute monkey was trying to crack open a rock thinking there was food inside. This video was taken at the Sacred Monkey Forest in Ubud - Bali, Indonesia.
