The Fish Tales

Home!

By: Ben & Grace

08-12-2011

Hello!! We are finally at the end of our journey. The flight home was fine, although we had a 10 hour stop in Singapore airport. Fortunately for us Singapore airport is the creme de la creme of airports! Pretty impressive. We filled the time playing in the Kinect room doing a bit of virtual bowling, using the free massage chairs and wandering around the endless shops. From there it was our final flight with BA back to Heathrow, which was the most luxurious flight to date, a nice way to end the trip.

We arrived at 5am at Heathrow, and speedily got through customs and picked up our bags. We were then greeted by a rather excited Mumma Gatley running up to us as we came through Arrivals, our very own Love Actually moment. So, here we are, back in extremely cold England. So many little things seem like luxury now; hot water is greatly underrated, normal driving and road rules that don’t put your life at risk, tap water, and quorn! We have had the most amazing adventure, and its going to be a huge adjustment getting back to reality! We’re going to miss not being just the two of us; we’ll have to get used to sharing each other again! Can’t wait to be surrounded by family and friends again though.

Looking back, there are so many highlights in every single country we visited, and definitely something we would love to do again down to the line. Now however its going to be nice to get settled in a place, get a job and an income, and start planning a wedding! From one exciting year to another, we would like to thank everyone for reading our blog. We had over 5,000 hits from the website, which is such a nice that feeling that people have been reading our tales along the way.

For now, it is goodbye from the blog, and thankyou!

ps/ As an extra note, we have roughly calculated our travelling distances along the way, and this is what we have come up with;

13,500km by Bus
40,403km by Plane
6,000km by Graham (the van)
700km by Moped
200km by Taxis
20km by Becak
100km by Boat

A Java Jaunt, Dengue Fever and a Penultimate Post!

By: Ben & Grace

02-12-2011

Indonesia

So after a quite hideous bus journey, we arrived in Yogyakarta, Java at about 10 on Sunday morning. After we’d checked into the hostel and eaten some breakfast, we went for a wander and an eye-opening experience at the Pasar Ngasem, Yogya’s squawking bird market! There were birds of every kind and colour (including a pitiful cage of fluorescently dyed baby chicks which we felt very ashamed for laughing at) as well as geckos, dogs, cats and monkeys lined up in row after row of cages. Quite fascinating to see, but a horrific environment for the animals to inhabit and we left feeling quite heartbroken, especially for the one little monkey not only caged in but tied to the inside of the bars and with hardly any of his fur left! Not the kind of place you can really stand to be for long, but as we have witnessed a couple of times during our travels, there are some situations you can nothing you can do about and instead just have to observe as a cultural experience. It helps to realise that the market provides a living for the many people that trade there, selling the animals as pets as well as for food, and for use in medicine. Here are the pictures that Ben could bring himself to take!

Gecko

Tiny cute bus!

Ferry view

Dip-dyed chicks!

Birdcage

Poor ginger-eyed pussycat

Geckos

Drizzly Java

After we escaped the horrors of the market, we hitched a ride on a Becak (rickshaw) to one of the many Batik exhibitions. We were told that the textiles were all produced by local students, though our guidebook has a warning to beware of such scams to peddle overpriced batik through these ‘Fine art exhibitions’ so we were not quite sure of their origin! Still, they were all very beautiful works of art, Yogya and Solo particularly are famed for their Batik. We rode back in the becak to our hotel all wrapped up in plastic bags as the heavens had opened (we quickly came to realise that this is a daily occurrence in Java; 3pm onwards=torrential rain!) went out for some tea and then early to bed to try and snatch back some of the sleep that had eluded us for the 18 hour bus ride!

The next day we planned to visit the Kraton, then Sultan’s palace. However, our plans were scuppered by Mr Obama, who had followed us over from Bali (surely there would have been room on the airforce1 for two extra bums?!) and decided to hog the palace all morning. Instead, we walked into town to see the Batik markets, and for a couple of hours respite from the heat in the icily air conditioned shopping mall! Sadly, the rain came earlier that day and we got stuck in the Batik market where all the lights went off and rainwater attacked us from between gaps in the roof! It eventually eased enough for us to hop into a becak and we spent the afternoon watching Bridget Jones’s Diary and Friends, and were surprised with afternoon tea provided by the hotel for marooned guests! Lovely.

Stylish Binbag Mac

Prepared, whatever the weather

Mirror Mall

Soggy old Nag

Next morning we were up at half 4 in order to embark on a ‘sunrise tour’ of the temples of Borobudur and Prambanan. The sun had already risen by the time we were picked up by the minibus, but it was still lovely to be up so early as it was so peaceful! Borobudur is a Buddhist monument with gorgeous views of the Merapi Volcano. It really was beautiful, decorated with intricate relief panels and populated with 72 stone Buddha’s! We spent a bit of time exploring but sadly the peace didn’t last for long, and we became inundated with school groups wanting to have their picture taken with us (Westerners are definitely more of a novelty in Java!) and to ask us questions about England, and our favourite Indonesian foods, songs, places. We obliged for a little bit but it got quite wearing after the third round of the same questions! Thankfully the minibus moved on and we drove for another few hours to the Hindu temple of Prambanan. This was a complex of majestic individual temples, and Ben got some beautiful pictures before we got hit by the full heat of the sun and had to take refuge under a bush!

Happy gargoyles

Relief carvings

Borobudur

Morning Mist

Temple tower

Prambanan

Majestic temples

Relief carvings

Shady shelter

The cutest thing you ever did see!

Snapdragon

Happy boy

Random baby thrust into Ben's arms by its parents so they could take a photo on their phone! Cute though!

On our final day we visited the Kraton which was intriguing, but slightly disappointing as the artefacts displayed were so poorly labelled and preserved. A lot of really lovely batik though; as well as photographs and paintings of the Sultans and their families, and a really interesting room which featured the handpainted royal family tree. We also watched a traditional Wayang performance, which is a shadow puppet show accompanied by Gamelan, a haunting musical ensemble made up of several beautiful instruments, huge bells, drums, gongs and flutes.

The next day we left on the train for Surakarta (Solo) about an hour and a half away. It has a pretty similar vibe to Yogya, only much quieter and with far less tourists. We stayed in a sweet hostel called Istana Griya, across the road from Warung Baru, a restaurant we’d read about in the Lonely Planet which makes delicious homemade bread! Unfortunately, while the bread was indeed delicious, our poor weak immune systems couldn’t handle anything else on the menu, and we both got really sick again, meaning we had to cancel a tour we’d booked for the next day to Mount Bromo. We lost a day to sickness and toilet visits (made doubly unlovely by the fact our toilet was non-flushing!) and our plans to visit the Solo Kraton and Palace were also ruined as we felt so ill, and though we did manage a visit to the antique flea market, by now were feeling more than ready to get out of the city. Determined not to waste any more time wallowing we rebooked the tour for the following day though we still didn’t feel much better, and had another horrible drive in which we had to change minibus four times and Ben’s fever crept rapidly up! We arrived at Cemoro Lawang, the town nearest to Bromo’s crater, and stayed at night at Yoschi’s hotel. It was nice enough, but neither of us could properly enjoy it as we were feeling so rough! The ridiculously long journey meant we only arrived at 11pm, and had a scheduled 3am wake-up call… Quite possibly the worst night’s sleep! Ben had a mighty temperature of 104 and was displaying all the symptoms of Dengue fever- not the best time to climb a mountain! Fortunately we had a jeep ride most of the way up. The sunrise was indeed beautiful over the volcano and the crater, but altogether we were really disappointed by the experience. We had thought it would be a lot quieter from what we had read, when actually; hundreds of people were being ferried up the mountain in a conveyor belt type fashion! After watching the sunrise from the ‘viewpoint’ we were driven down into the crater and had the opportunity to climb up the side of the volcano. We decided it would be a better idea to lie down in the sand for an hour and snooze. What followed was a blur of more horrible buses and a very hot, pale, wide eyed Ben Bunny, but we eventually arrived back in Kuta at midnight. Thankfully Kedin’s had saved us a room, though we were to share it with three lizards and a cockroach, and the bathroom door also mysteriously locked itself at a very critical time and Ben had to puke all over the plants! Still, we were so glad to be back!

Kraton

Becak rider

Telephone graveyard

Batik

Bromo Sunrise

Misty Bromo

Beauty

Poor tired horses carting people up the mountain all day long

Bromo Crater

The last few days had really taken a toll on both of us though, and after much discussion and conferring with our Mums, we decided it might be best to fly home early, rather than waste another two weeks being too ill to really enjoy ourselves. Quite sad to bring our trip to an untimely end, though once we’d received confirmation of the changed flights we knew we’d made the right choice. And so! It has been a manic week spent Christmas shopping and packing! Although we still haven’t managed to shake off the yucky bugs, we’ve had a lovely last few days and are now ready for some well-earned home comforts, namely hugs, cups of real tea, and quorn! Thus, you have just finished reading the penultimate blog post. Now I am feeling sad! Still, Christmas to look forward to and a final few holiday snaps for you to enjoy! Tune in soon for the finale!

Yes Boss, T-Shirt Boss?

By: Ben & Grace

18-11-2011

Indonesia

Well here we are. I figured the best plan would be to do another quick post before we started our Java bus extravaganza. Carrying on from the previous post, we headed back up along the west coast to Balian, where we spent 4 nights enjoying the quiet again. Driving out of Kuta, its hard to remember in some ways why we even go back there. The swell hit with force from the day we arrived in Balian. I am honestly not sure how 4 foot of swell (the equivalent of head high waves in the UK) can create double-triple overhead monsters up in Balian, but that is what I got. Me and about 5 other guys for the most part.

Our adventure in Balian was much the same. Perfect big waves peeling down the point, super sized mosquitoes and the endless orchestra of Geckos. Unfortunately these were not the only creatures to welcome us up there. After breakfast one morning we were welcomed by a scorpion inside our mosquito netting. We got the owner to help us out, with her telling us they are pretty dangerous! We also had a Chicha (mini Gecko) in our room, which again with some assistance was removed!

I managed to also get up to Medewi for a surf, cut my finger open and have a surprisingly average surf in comparison to Balian. The same day however I did get back into the groove of photography and managed to take a few photos speeding around on my moped, so enjoy below. We now are back in Kuta, heading to Java tomorrow on a 16 hour bus ride, so expect another post from the land of the volcanoes!

p.s. The title is a mere example of the lovely selling techniques by the Balinese. I do love there confidence; always assume the customer wants whatever they have, no matter how tacky.

The best thing I have ever seen in black and white.

Lazy pets.

Too sunburnt for colour. Pretty sure you can still make out the red.

Sea froth.

Not a bad life near the sea, minus the sharks.

Nowhere to go.

One for Debbie.

Sunset.

Clouds in purple.

Motion.

Outline in the violet.

Grace.

Black line.

B&W.

Sea.

Triple overhead perfection.

The classic image.

Lines in Bali.

Rice paddies.

Some crazy spider doubling its legs up in disguise.

Local smiling.

The 50's.

Bali workers.

Human mirror.

Sun, Surf & Bali Belly.

By: Ben & Grace

14-11-2011

Indonesia

Many, many apologies for such a tardy blog! It’s been very hot! Haha!

We are in Bali now, hurray! Had a good flight over from Melbourne, during which we were treated quite specially! Turns out we were on an exciting list which meant we got free food, drinks, snuggly blankets and little inflatable pillows, as well as envious looks from other passengers. Either because we are ‘frequent flyers’ or because we have ‘one world’ tickets, we’re not entirely sure, but it was a nice surprise. We managed to get through the airport and sort out visa bits quite quickly which was nice, and then stepped out into 30 degree heat, at 11 o clock at night! HOT! Too make matters even more sticky and sweaty, the road to our hotel was shut off, so we had to walk for about 10 minutes with all our bags, and wearing far too many layers of clothing! Blurgh. We stayed at the AP Inn for the first night, but it was quite pricey and our room wasn’t very delightful, so we moved the next day to a lovely little place called Kedins II. We also hired a moped! It was a bit of an experience driving through the streets with precariously balanced rucksacks and surfboard, but we made it in one piece! Spent the first week or so exploring Kuta, and trying to get used to the heat! Ben has mainly surfed Uluwatu, Bingin and Balangan, all of which take about 30-40 minutes to get to by moped. Our hotel is a little haven tucked out of the way, and I have gotten lots of poolside reading done, but it is nice to get away from the extreme hustle and bustle of Kuta every now and then! Balangan is definitely my favourite with its beautiful white sand and bright blue ocean. It’s also a lot more interesting watching the surf as Ben wears his bright green t-shirt (far too hot for wetsuits!) which means I actually know where he is, rather than having to guess and squint for gangly Gatley arms! Hehe.

Rain drippings.

Dolphin.

Wet Grace.

Tiny Puppy!

The classic Kuta sunset.

Ice cream, ice cream, ice cream.

Pretty lady.

Chilling on the way to Balian.

After a few days we drove 2 hours north on the west coast to Balian, which is a little beaachy surfy village. We spent three nights there which was really nice, and Ben had some good surfs, though one dawny was drastically cut short after the appearance of an ominous looking fin about 8ft away! Cue a speedy paddle to the shore, but thankfully he was not eaten for breakfast. Sadly by the Saturday we had run out of money and as the nearest atm was an hour’s drive nearly halfway back to Kuta again, we decided to come back! On Monday we went to the immigration office to extend our visas, and learnt of a long old faff in which we’d have to go back two days later to pay for it and then two days later again to collect it. So we’d be stuck in Kuta for the week which I suppose turned out to be for the best, because we both got really sick! Not nice, especially hard to keep hydrated in the heat! We spent the week being a bit frazzled and poorly, trying to get better and catching up on episodes of Downton Abbey! A bit of a nothing week really which was sad and made us both feel quite homesick, but there was a silver lining when Ben came across the Bali Deli, which imports lots of British food! Yum yum. We did a bit of shopping too. My sunglasses sadly died after I sat on them, but some of you will be able to imagine the sheer delight of Balinese street peddlers when they saw me walk by with them duct taped back together…! So we now have his and hers matching shades for’ very good price boss’!

Fishing with the sharks.

Spoils of the catch.

Jungle.

Fish.

Another cute dog!

Offering.

Incense.

Our room in Made's, Balian.

Balian on a small swell.

We’re a bit fed up of Kuta again now, so today we’re going back up to Balian, and maybe a bit further north to Medewi for a few days. After that we plan to travel to Java and the Gili islands for a couple of weeks, so that’s quite exciting, just need to gear ourselves up for adventures again after staying put here for 3 weeks! I’m sure once we get going to travel bug will return! Anyway, we will write again very soon I promise, but for the meantime, enjoy these snaps from the amazingly talented Ben boy!