Pictures from Bali

Hey everyone...finally some more pictures! These being way overdue....but I have yet to burn some Thailand ones to a disc...or the ones of the pink dolphins in Singapore! Hopefully those will come soon. I am now back in Thailand...for one month in Phuket....I will now extend the offer to all those who want to meet up in Amsterdam...I will be there at the beginning of July for those who want to meet me there! I hope everyone is doing good! Lots of love from Thailand. Let me know how everyone is doing!



View of the hotel...and pool...from the lobby, where we stayed in Bali...you could also get poolside massages!


This is a shot of the pool at our hotel.....not to bad of a pool or a view from the pool in the previous shot!


Every monday...at the resort...they had a owners party...even though we weren't owners we were invited, because we were staying there with our exchange program at interval international....the party was right on the beach, and they had live acoutic music and free beer and food.....this is a picture of me, drinking the local brew, at the party...called Bintang...it was quite nice!


This is some of the rice terraces we saw on our drive to the north part of the island, where we went diving...Bali is famous, for some of the most beautiful rice terraces in the world...this is just as much a part of Bali as the Hindu faith. Most of the people who don't work in the tourism industry, work with rice. It is considered a great value to own a 10x10 plot. This costs 150 US dollars, and to us that may seem like a little...but most people here, don't even make that much in a month....so this is a not an option to own one, unless you come from wealth.


View of the volcano, from our balcony at the Peninsula Beach Resort...


Bali...the land where you can see the sunrise and sunset...every day if you wish. This is the view of the sunrise, from our balcony at the hotel...where we stayed in Nusa Dua. This part of the island is on the east coast...so if you are lucky and the morning is clear....there will be a spectacular sunrise. We loved our balcony here....out over the ocean we could see the sunrise and even se the volcano from there...as in the previous picture!


The sunset draws everyone to the beach in Kuta...It is not to be missed on a trip to Bali! We were lucky to see it, on this day...it rained and was cloudy all day, but just like magic, the sky opened up...just as the sun was setting!

Jayme and I on the Kuta famous Kuta beach for the sunset. Everyone in this town, stops what they are doing for sunset and all flock to the beach, to watch it. It is magical! This town is alot like many of the towns, in the US..there are many shops and even a Starbucks...It is the town, that most people stay, to be close to the nightlife, shopping, and all the action! They even had a Hard Rock hotel there...it looked pretty nice, suppossedly having the biggest pool in all of Bali!

A beautiful fountain, that was outside on the grounds of the museum...


This is a shot of Jayme, holding one of the other cockatoos, outside of the museum!


This is a picture of a Maccaw parrot at the art Renassance Museum in Ubud. This district of Bali is art orientated and many artists flock to this area...to sell their goods. Silversmiths, Batik (cloth makers) shops, and many painters shops line the streets.

I am not sure if most of you know, but most of the population of Bali are of Hindu faith. This is very rare in Indonesia, where most of the other islands are of Muslem faith. These people are very serious about their religion, true in every house, hotel, and shop, all around the entire island. Many temples are in every location, so that people can worship at any time of the day. Even if they are at work.. Every morning an offering is made to the Gods, and put in each of the temples. Along the ground are offerings for the evil spirits, as well, which is the one pictured here. As you can see there is even a cigarette there, which are not seen in the offerings for the good spirits....see even they know that cigarettes are evil! ;) These offerings are an every day part of life on Bali and you get used to looking at the ground, to make sure that you don't step on them. It was very interesting to experience a culture, where most of the people practice the same religion. They believe that good and evil are a regular part of life, and that to have a good day, it is imporart to please both Gods, to keep the peace in one's life!


This is a picture of the biggest volcano on Bali. It was only visable on 2 of the mornings that we were there....you had to wake up early to be able to see the top. Most of the time, clouds covered it. We were lucky to be able to see it from the part of Bali that we stayed on~!

Back tomorrow to Thailand

Well...this is sadly going to be the last post for some time, due to limited access to cheap internet in Thailand. It turns out I have to pay to insert a Cd into the computer here..so there are not going to be new pictures....when I get to Thailand I will post some because I know of a place for cheap internet...but it is quite a walk in the heat, so that will be every now and then, but not daily! Anyway...the plans are all set for the rest of our trip! Unfortunately, we saved the most expensive travel for last, and we are already too tight on funding. This is okay...because we rented a car in both Europe and Iceland, for the majority of the time! We are going to make great use of all the camping equipment that we have been hauling around and not using-Thank God!!!! It will be nice to see the countryside of Europe starting in Paris...onto Switzerland, then Germany, and ending in Amsterdam. We have been burnt out on cities and I am ready to spend some time rejuvinating myself with nature again...hopefully Europe will provide me with that need. For us to spend the night anywhere in Europe, it would cost 60-100 per night and that doesn't include the $800 for the Eurorail...so we are nixing that and travelling at our own pace and leisure..by car....not one bought though....rented...much more reliable that way! In Iceland it is even more expensive costing the two of us over 100 per night, so again we are doing a car there and just go and see what we see! Then back to reality and life again, in July! I wanted to do Costa Rica..but I need to come back and work to save up some money before going there...maybe I could help out at the lab...when Joy and Mike are on their honeymoon....I would love to do it...so if you need the extra help...dad...you can count on me-for sure!!! I can't wait to see how everyone is doing and looking forward to the coming reunion at Joy and Mikes Big DAy!!! Lots of love!

More pictures coming soon!

Well I am back in Singapore as of this morning and now that I have free internet, there will be current updates and lots of pictures....I'm here for a week...so that is plenty of time to mess around with the blog. We decided to come back to Singapore, because I really wanted to see the pink dolphins that I never got to see the last time that I was here! Hopefully, Monday will be the day for that...but the other reason we came here is because we needed to renew our visa in Thailand for another month, now that we are not going to Nepal. Lastly, I love it here, it is more expensive than Thailand but there is plenty to do, and we stay at this great hostel called the Summer Tavern that is in the best location! I am glad that I will get to do the things that we never got around to doing here! The best part of the whole not going to Nepal thing...is that we are staying at a five star resort right on the Adaman Sea in Phuket Thailand....beautiful turquoise waters and a gym to boot! The time share- like thing, I own, is really paying off! We blew the last of our points in Thailand and get to stay for one month at the Marriot Phuket Beach Club! This is after Singapore! We have a one day lapse in between our four weeks there and that will be devoted to diving on a live aboard in the Similian Islands...supposed to be the best deep water diving in the world....weather permitting...please keep me in your prayers, I can't take any more bad luck. For those I didn't tell...they found my car in Australia....but being that I don't know anyone over there...it will go up for auction and the money will go to Australia...maybe I can pay them back in karma for the money that came my way! I now would like to throw the offer out to anyone once again...since you missed your other shot at the last two weeks in Thailand...there is now another shot....we will be staying at the same place and once again, all you have to do is get there and then....have the time of your life staying at the nicest place I have ever stayed at....you can trust me on this( some pictures will be coming soon to back me up) DO NOT PASS UP THIS OPPORTUNITY......Meet me in Phuket....Anytime between May 13-June 11! www.vacationclub.com! View the site....two bedroom villa floor-plan---the place is nicer than any apartment I have rented and all you have to do is get there!!!!! Join Me! I spend most of the time relaxing at cascading pools and watching the sunset.....plus working out at the gym...got to get back in shape for Joy's wedding. Every Monday they have an owners meeting party with free alcohol too! What more can I say to convince people to come? I will quit rambling for now...little sleep in the past two days and I need to relax a bit....Let me know whose coming!