Getting Beneath the Surface: Labuan Bajo
After the 57 hour odyssey, we finally arrived Labuan Bajo, the gateway to Komodo National Park and western Flores. We lined up diving for the next morning right away, and dragged our weary selves down the dusty main street to find a room. We checked a couple out, but passed on dirty sheets, stinky bathrooms […]
Never-ending Story
In Sengiggi we had purchased a through ticket from there on the west coast of Lombok all the way to Labuan Bajo on the island of Flores. It was the cheap and local way to do it, and though we would miss out on three days of coastal views, saltwater bucket showers and sleeping on […]
Lonely Lombok
After an early morning boat-crossing from Gili Air, we arrived at Bangsal Harbor in Lombok. Though poised strategically between famous Bali to the west and the rest of Nusa Tenggara, (with Komodo National Park a few islands to the east) Lombok seems to be searching for how to fit in. Senggigi is known as the […]
Gili Islands: Air is Water
Indonesia is said to have over 17000 islands, only 6000 or so of them inhabited. After traveling a couple of hours northeast on Bali to the beach-town of Padangbai, we took a boat to the Gili Islands vía Lombok. This is the western beginning of Nusa Tenggara, a chain of islands that extends past Timor […]
Indonesia Intro
Crossing the equator for the first time this trip, we arrived in Bali, Indonesia, escaping the end of rainy season in Thailand. It was time to redeem a few more Marriott points, which made total relaxation simple. We spent a few days on the Tanjung Benoa peninsula in Nusa Dua, the more luxurious tourist area […]
Floating Islands of the Uro
Las Islas Flotantes de los Uro are one of the must-sees near Puno. The story we heard was that when the aggressive Colla and Inka started pushing the indigenous communities of the area further and further towards Lake Titicaca (the highest navigable lake in the world) , people fled in boats onto the lake. They […]
Moorea: Exploring Tahiti’s Little Sister
The Society Islands Tahiti and Moorea are part of the Society Islands, one of five archipelagos that make up French Polynesia, which sits about halfway between South America and Australia. Faa’a Airport is about a six hour flight from Honolulu, almost due south. It was here that the French painter Gaugin created some of his […]