Stops: Batu Tering Sarcophagi, Villa Aqila Hotel, Labuan Jambu, Sumbawa and Whale Shark Point in Teluk Saleh, in the shadow of Mt Tambora. (Days 108-109) The last couple of days I was in Sekongkang, I met this surfer dude from Latvia named Marten at the hotel. He’d been in Lombok and Sumbawa for a couple…
Stops: SWP Eco-Lodge, Sri Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Tooth) (Days 65-66) The train from Colombo took us through flooded fields and villages and then up and up and up into the central highlands and back into history. Kandy has its fair share of colonial residences, hotels, and churches. But it also has extraordinary nature…
Stop: Sigiriya (Day 67) Just a quick look from the top of an ancient fortress in Sri Lanka. Etsuko and I climbed up hundreds of steps to this ancient fortress on a pillar of granite. More on this later. (But, happy to be back on good enough Internet to upload stuff!)
Stops: Kaccapa Beach Resort, Castaway Surf Retreat (Days 98-103)
Stops: Poto Tano Port, Rumah Kenawa, Bukit Pototano Communications Tower, Pantai Lampu, Pantai Pasir Putih (Days 93-94) The weather was grey as we pulled into port on the ferry from Lombok. Spent about thirty minutes in the harbor waiting, then disembarked just in time for the clouds to open up. But, my “homestay” at Rumah…
Stops: Minangkabau Airport, Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Kuta Lombok, Tanjung Aan (Days 87-93) Lombok is a good way point heading east. Flights from Jakarta to Sumbawa (no direct flights from Sumatra) take you quite a ways east along this oddly shaped island, but the ferry from Lombok drops you right at the westernmost tip so I can…
Stops: Galle Face Hotel, Pettah Market, Number 11 (Days 61-64) A couple of days before heading out to Sri Lanka I started reading “The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida” by Shehan Karunatilaka and finished it just as we flew into Bandaranaike International Airport outside Colombo. A taxi from the hotel was waiting to take us…
Stops: Singapore National Gallery and Sianok Valley Panorama, Bukit Tinggi (Days 2 and 83) At the start of this trip, I went to the amazing Singapore National Gallery again. They had a big exhibition of Southeast Asian art called “Siapa Nama Mu?” with many paintings from Indonesia. This is one that stood out for me.…
Stops: The View Homestay, Jembatan Akar, a waterfall, beach at Teluk Marungai, fishing village at Sungai Pinang, a farm behind the village back in the jungle, and a Minang food takeaway shop. (Day 78) I stayed just two nights at The View Homestay. That was all the availability there was. I arrived late the first…
Testing… Testing… Had to do some Internet futzing around (that’s one reason why no blogging recently) so just a quick test to see if this thing is on. Also, cephalopods. Mural at Pantai Air Manis. Mural in Old Town, Padang.
