Per Diem 2 Pennies

Sunday, January 9, 2011

South India Sunshine

Refreshed after five days of luxury for Christmas in Nusa Dua Bali we headed north for a day and a night diving the wreck of the USAT Liberty in Tulamben. (more dive pics to come off Alexis' camera) We spent a rain soaked night in the flooded town of Kuta Beach while waiting for a plane and then flew out to Kuala Lumpur for three nice nights in a Sheraton leading up to New Years Eve. We sopped up some Malaysian cuisine and picked up some new cooking tips along the way.

Doing by far the most outlying planning to date on this trip, Alexis and I booked tickets to take us to the very Southern tip of India and, ten days later and from the far side of the state of Kerala, to return to Kuala Lumpur and continue on to Vientienne, Laos.

The state of Kerala, in India, proclaims itself 'God's Own Country'. Accordingly we can determine about God that {she, he, it, they,∅, ...} loves sunshine, bright colors, spicy food, Communism, long walks on the beach and incredible sunsets. We can also tell that God could really use a hand cleaning up and taking out the trash every now and again.

We stepped off the plane at around nine A.M. on New Years Day and instantly realized several things: we had no guidebook, no idea where we were going to stay, it was probably a public holiday. We soon learned, at the first three hotels we tried, that it was also high season for local tourism and the town of Trivandrum was jam packed with visitors. We weathered it well though. We found a hotel, got some sleep and then got out to eat real Indian food and explore our strange new environs.

It didn't take us too long to find our backpacking stride again. We spent our first night in Trivandrum. Feeling that the town was just a bit to rustic and unfamiliar with foreigners, we left early the next morning to head to the "upscale" tourist beach in Kovalum. After a day on the beach being hassled and ogled, we got gutsy and hopped on the bus back to Trivandrum. With a little help from some friendly locals we found our way onto a low fare bus headed north, and a hop-skip-and-$2.50 later we found ourselves in Varkala. This little town on a cliff edged felt just right to us. A little bit reggae, a little bit backpacker, a whole lot of hippy meets guru.

Here we've practiced a little yoga and found a very low frills cooking class. Add in a little time on the beach and you've got perfection.

Next: on to the Kerala Backwaters for a raft ride.

-- Jeff

Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas!!!

Jeff and I are hanging out at the Westin in Nusa Dua hoping for a Christmas miracle. Specifically, we are hoping that whatever has made our stomachs ill will go away before Christmas. We did have a chance to enjoy a lovely complementary cocktail hour in the lobby with music by a local children's choir. It definitely brought tears to my eyes - I am such a sap.

Anyways, in the spirit of Christmas (and in the spirit of staving off the tears), here is a little something special we'd like to share with you this holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

-Alexis and Jeff

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/akVIcpY5xc70GwCy98vA

And if that wasn't enough...

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/LntjtNRyCPczaeAg

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Welcome to Paradise

I always did love that Green Day song, but yet it really doesn't describe the paradise that is Ubud, Bali, Indonesia.

After three weeks in Thailand, Jeff and I left for the unknown - Bali. We had become very comfortable with Thailand - the prices, the food, the people. It all became very familiar. It was paradise, and we loved it.

I am happy to say that within just a few hours of arriving in Bali, I came to decide that *this* is really paradise. Bali is amazing! We started our adventures in Ubud, a fun little artsy town in the center of the island. We were nowhere near a beach, yet there was water everywhere - mostly because it rained every single day. We would wake up to beautiful sunny weather, and by around 1 or 2pm each day there would be a downpour like you couldn't imagine. It rained in sheets, yet it was beautiful.

The only other time I can remember loving the rain so much was when I visited Costa Rica in 2005/6. In Bali, like in Costa Rica, it rains for several hours each day, and when it does it is beautiful. You couldn't imagine the green that you see during the rain here. You can read about it in books (as I did), but it is so incredible to see it for yourself. It is so lush! There are tropical trees of all kinds, surrounded by tropical flowers, and if you look through all of that you can find the amazing moss-covered temple architecture that describes Ubud.

Ubud, Bali

Rice Paddy - Ubud, Bali

Legong Dance - Ubud, Bali

Jeff and I had one particularly amazing day in Ubud. We got up and went for a run around the rice paddies - amazing!, then went to a vinyasa yoga class, and then got massages for $10 each. They were 90 minute Balinese (kind of like deep tissue) massages with a salt scrub at the end. The salt scrub was a little
"developing" world. It was real big-crystal salt, and it hurt. I had scratches afterward, but the massage was great!!! We went out to a Warung (little traditional Indonesian bistro) for dinner, and then to a little coffee shop and had a couple of beers and listened to a cover band. They played mostly American music, but they sang it in "engrish". It was hilarious, and so fun. Jeff and I even got up and sang a few tunes with them. Live karaoke is always good, right?! I sang "Stand By Me" and Jeff sang "Fly Me to the Moon". We had a great time.

Sundowners - Ubud, Bali

Live Karaoke Band - Ubud, Bali

Ikan Bakar - Ubud, Bali

We also had an awesome time taking a Balinese/Indonesian Cooking class. We were stuffed by the end, and now we've got even more recipes to add to our Southeast Asian repertoire.

Cooking Class - Bumbu Bali - Ubud, Bali

Cooking Class - Sayur Urab - Ubud, Bali

Cooking Class - Grilled Tuna - Ubud, Bali

Cooking Class - Satay Lilit - Ubud, Bali

Cooking Class - Ubud, Bali

Cooking Class - Sauteed Shrimp - Ubud, Bali

Sunset from the Ferry from Bali to Lombok

The next part of our adventures in paradise took us to Senggigi, Lombok, Indonesia. This was more like what is described in that Green Day song. "Craked streets", slums, etc. We hated it. We got swindled into staying in the worst room ever. The first night we had rats for roomates (they were in the ceiling scratching away all night), and the next night our bed broke at midnight (it had been held together with chicken wire - great). After moving into our third room in two days, we hit the pillow and slept. It might have been okay after that if when we woke up in the morning we had had a nozzle on our shower (instead the water came out in a dribble), and we would have been even happier if the toilet was connected and flushed (instead we had to bucket water into it to flush it - awesome). Needless to say, we were thrilled with the worst place we have stayed to date. Thankfully, Senggigi (like Ubud) had live karaoke. That is about all it had to offer in our opinion.

Senggigi, Lombok

Dinner at a Warung - Senggigi, Lombok

Live Band Karaoke - Senggigi, Lombok

Finally, we ended up in Gili Trawangan, Lombok, Indonesia - a tiny island off the coast of Senggigi. It was amazing! Jeff and I decided to get our Advanced Open Water certifications there. A load of reading and 5 dives later, we are now certified to dive up to 30m/100ft. Our favorite dive of all was a night dive around the house reef, where the dive shop owners have created what are called "Bio Rocks". These "rocks" are actually large metal dome structures through which a small current is passed to promote the growth of coral. They are pretty amazing, and in about 5-10 years they should be completely covered with coral, and provide shelter for the many fish species. Two things of note about our night dive: 1) We had the rare opportunity to see 5 white tip reef sharks! The leader of the pack circled us, and came within reaching distance of one of our dive buddies! 2) We played with bioluminescense. Bascially, if you turn of your torch you can wave your hands around, swim, etc. and see hundreds of tiny lights. It was awesome. I'm pretty sure I'm a wizard underwater. A very giggly wizard :)

Blue Marlin Diving - Gili Trawangan, Lombok

Gili Trawangan, Lombok

Manta Ray!!! Gili Trawangan, Lombok

Gili Trawangan, Lombok

Nitrogen Narcosis Test - Gili Trawangan, Lombok

Gili Trawangan, Lombok

White Tip Reef Shark!!! Gili Trawangan, Lombok

Gili Trawangan, Lombok

Now, at last we are at the Westin in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia. It's a nice break from guest houses, rats, and breaking beds. Breakfast, lunch, and cocktails/canapes are served in the Platinum lounge, we have hot fresh water showers, and it's absolutely beautiful here. In the words of Jack Banks, "I love my life!"

Monday, December 6, 2010

Things I'm Passionate About

If you have ever traveled with me, or even just talked to me (or rather listened to me talk:), you may know that there are two things in life that I am incredibly passionate about: food and travel. I love both so much, that I would be hard pressed to choose one over the other. Fortunately, the two often go hand in hand. One of the things I loved most about traveling for work for the last 3.5 years, was the opportunity to not only see the world, but the opportunity to try the food in about 30 countries. I have found favorite foods, and favorite cuisines over the years, but the two that remained my absolute favorites (before ever visiting their countries of origin) were/are Thai and Indian food.

We have been in Thailand for just about three weeks now, and I can confirm that Thai food is still one of my two favorite cuisines. I have eaten a lot of food that has reinforced my passion for Thai cooking, and have even found one or two new favorite dishes. Some of them are easy to find, like papaya salad. Almost every street vendor and restaurant owner in Thailand offers this dish. They are all different, but they are all delicious. The favorite so far was a particularly sweet/spicy version in Bangkok, where the vendor added small, dried shrimp to the mix. Some dishes however, come in to town, and then disappear with the gypsy street vendors and carts that offered them. Jeff and I enjoyed a dish of morning glory stir fried with salted fish in Sukhothai, and when we went to seek it out the next day (my birthday), it was gone. Vanished. The street vendor, the cart, the plastic chairs and tables - all gone. If only we had taken notes the night before.

Here are some of the delicious foods we have eaten so far...