This gallery contains 16 photos.
This morning we got picked up by a local guide for a walking tour through Sidemen and the surrounding areas. First we made it from our hotel into the village with a stop at our guide’s house and the local … Continue reading
We finished the bike ride close to Sangeh Monkey Forest; before lunch we had a guided tour through the forest, passing by the temple, buildings and (yes …) monkeys.
After a fairly ant-y lunch we continued by van to Sidemen – our next stop for the night. On the way we stopped at a weaving mill to first see the production process and then (of course) get an opportunity for shopping. We made it to Sideman after some more hours of driving, where a nice pool was waiting for us – plus some very nice surroundings (green just got a new meaning) – – as well as some heavy rain.
This morning bikes were waiting for us; so we jumped on them and got going – first passing by Ubud’s Monkey Forest to our first stop – the Birth Clinic of the Bumi Sehat Foundation, a project supported by Intrepid.
We got an introduction to the project and a tour of the clinic before we continued our bikeride. Our next stops (only like 20 minutes later) was for the true intrepid traveller … we stopped at a local vendor and had a chance to sample a locally produced fermented, alcohol-free coconut based drink … it had a somewhat funny taste, though pretty refreshing.
We continued on … with the occasional break here and there … to finally finish the ride close to the Sangeh Monkey Forest.
In the evening the group got together again to visit a performance of traditional Kechak and Fire Dancing. Footage below …
This gallery contains 20 photos.
The tour fully started with a group meeting this morning. From the group meeting we went straight for the first activity: by van we were brought to a village outside of Ubud; from there we enjoyed a walking tour of … Continue reading
I made it to Bali with Singapore Airlines through (somehow to be expected) Singapore; with the arrival in Denpasar mid-day. Immigration and customs went smoothly and efficiently, same for the drive to the hotel in Ubud (around 35 km away).
After arrival I started my usual exploration of town to get some first impressions of town.
In the evening the group (or the part of the group that had already arrived) met up the first time for a first impression of Balinese culture – at the Gianyar night market. Dinner based on what the stalls had on offer … some of it tasty, some of it interesting and some of it surprising.
Today we were looking for something different, so we left Hong Kong behind and took a ferry bound for Macau. After a 70 minute ferry ride we made it into Macau, where we headed straight for the historic city center to see Macau with its Portuguese heritage.
In the afternoon we took a taxi to get to the not-so-traditional part of town – heading directly for The Venetian, a combined hotel, shopping mall, casino and show/ convention complex – about three times the size of its sister in Las Vegas. We had a stroll through the mall with is channels and even changing lighting; after that we went a level a down to do some gambling … I lost my usual 10 EURs at the Roulette table.
We made it back into Hong Kong around 21:00. We were hungry at that point and ended up in The Best Seafood Restaurant (its actual name) for some (from a Western standpoint) more experimental food, including jelly fish and century eggs.
Today we once more left the big city behind and took a ferry to the outlying island Cheung Chau. Here we roughly followed the Lonely Planet suggested island walk, passing by a number of temples and shrines and getting some views around the island. After that we had a late seafood lunch at the harbor front.
In the late afternoon we made our way back to Hong Kong – in time to get on board another ship for a dinner harbor cruise in Victoria harbor during the light- and laser show.
This day brought us out of the big city into the small satellite town of Sha Tin (which by itself already accounts for 700,000 inhabitants). From the train station we made our way up into the hills to the 10,000 Buddhas Monastery.
After we made the 400+ steps up to the monastery we directly went to the monastery’s resthouse to get some (vegetarian) lunch. Only after that we started to explore the monastery.
About half a year back I had managed to get some good flight deals into Hong Kong for my parents, my sister and myself.
We made it to Hong Kong after an eleven hours flight on an aging Lufthansa 747 around midday. To fight the jetlag we headed out directly to see the main attractions. First we took the star ferry to cross over from Kowloon to Hong Kong island to then make our way to the Bank of China Tower, where we managed to get up to the viewing platform on the 43rd floor. After taking in the views here, we continued our way heading on to the Peak Tram station to get up on the Peak for even more fabulous views.
We started our second day in Hong Kong with a sumptuous breakfast; after which we continued to Lantau island by MTR, there changing to cable car, to get up to the giant Buddha near Po Lin Monastery.
From here we did proceed to Diamond Hill to see Nan Lian Garden and the nearby Chi Lin Nunnery. From the nunnery we MTR’ed to the next station to see one of the most popular temples in Hong Kong – the Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple – home of three religions: Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.
