The Grand Finale on the Opposite Side of the World: Bali, Indonesia

The Final Stop... Bali, Indonesia.

The time had come...my trip was ending, and as I left the beautiful country of Australia, I decided there was one more place I needed to see before heading back to U.S. soil.  So, off to Bali I went.  I spent 10 days in Indonesia, and all 10 of them were fabulous.  I visited places unlike any other in the world, and had one of the most spectacular and extremely eye opening experiences of my life.

This is a traditional Balinese entrance.  Each side is supposed to be identical, as if you could push the two together into one unified piece.  These entrances were all over, especially in the temples.

The gorgeous beach.  The waves were spectacular, and I have never seen such talented surfers, as I did in Bali.

Parasailing...

In the air over the Indian Ocean.

After parasailing I went snorkeling, and then headed to Turtle Island, where I saw countless turtles, and held many as well.  The oldest turtle there was enormous, and was in his late 60's.  It's amazing that these turtles live longer than humans do!

Feeding the turtles some seaweed.

After turtle time, I went and saw some other animals.  Now, I am not a bird lover in the slightest...in fact, I think they are gross, dirty animals.  However, the Balinese lady showing me around forced me to hold this bird.  It was a very friendly birdy!

I did refuse to hold the bat!

Pretty Eagle. 

I visited numerous beaches during my time in Bali.  All were gorgeous in different ways.  This is Geger Beach, in Nusa Dua.  Nusa Dua is the part of Bali with 5 star hotels, where many wealthy people spend their time.  I did not stay here, as I am a poor college student, but it was extremely nice to visit!

Dreamland Beach

Suluban Beach...

This beach was fantastic.  It was different than any other beach I had ever seen.  The water was extremely clear, but the beach was different in that it had a normal beach in the front, but as you can see, it was extremely shallow with a lot of plants at the bottom, before it lead out to the deep water.

Small village I walked through to get to Suluban Beach.

The first temple I visited was the Uluwatu Temple.  A lot of temples in Bali have monkey's roaming around free and wild.  The monkeys at Uluwatu were ones to be weary of.  These monkeys would try and steal anything you were carrying, hats, sunglasses, wallets, water bottles, and even shoes!

Monkey

They were constantly cleaning each other, trying to find bugs and such in the others fur.

The Barong Dance is a traditional Balinese dance which tells the common story of Good vs. Evil.

While in Bali, the one thing that I wanted to do most, was ride an elephant!  So, that is exactly what I did.

I was not strapped in, in any way, and we had to go down a few steep hills...this was one of them...

And this was how I felt about it.

At the Holy Spring Temple, the monkeys were a bit more friendly, but not to let your guard down...these monkey still tried to steel from people!

If anybody watches the food channel, this is a fruit that has been featured many times.  Durian, known for its putrid smell and unique taste, is a fruit that is enjoyed by the Balinese people.

The inside of the Durian

And YES, of course I tried it!!  I did not think it tasted as bad as some people make it out to be.  However, the smell proved true to what everyone describes it as...one of the worst things ever!  

I also tasted other fruit grown in Bali such as, passion fruit, rambutan, and manggis.

Bali is known for its spectacular coffee and tea.  Being a coffee lover, I made sure to taste test the different coffee Bali had to offer.  I tried ginger tea, lemon grass tea, cocoa, traditional Balinese coffee, and ginseng coffee.

Taste testing... It really was quite delicious!

Bali has two active volcanoes.  This is one of them, and it is surrounded by a lake.  Lake Batar and the Kintamani Volcano is a phenomenal site to see, and I recommend anyone who visits Bali to check it out!

Better view of Lake Batar.

Holy Spring Temple.  

I visited quite a few temples while in Bali, all of which were Hindu.  Bali is the only place in Indonesia where Hinduism is the main religion. 

This water is supposedly lucky, and many people were bathing in it.  I just washed my hands in it, as I did not have a spare change of clothes with me.

All of the decorations and worship areas in the temples are hand crafted.  It really is quite amazing to see all the details!

The final temple I visited was the Elephant Cave Temple.  Elephants represent good luck in Bali.  But, a lot of things represent "good luck", so who really knows!

The last few days in Bali, my friends who I had met while studying in Melbourne met up with me.  Jennie and Anna lived next door to me for 4 months, so it was nice to see some familiar faces!  We spent most of our time catching up, drinking some Bintang beer, and soaking up the last bit of sun we would see for a while, before heading back to the cold climates of Sweden, where they are from, and the U.S. for me.

Happy to get my tan on!

Me, Jennie, and Anna our last night in Bali together!

This is what pretty much every street looked like where we stayed.  Legian is right next to KutaVuitton hand bags.

Bali was a tragically poor country.  The average salary a month is only about $100 or less.  However, amidst all the sadness and poverty, Bali is such a gorgeous country, unlike any I had ever seen before.  The Balinese people all value family and their religion.  That is what keeps them going everyday.  I think I learnt a lot about myself in Bali, and I try to never take for granted anything I have or have experienced.  I spent about 2 months backpacking Australia and ending in Indonesia.  I couldn't be more thankful for this experience.  It is cheesy to say, but it truly was an experience of a lifetime.  I saw so much, and will never forget this trip!  I could not have done it without the help of my parents, and without the wonderful people who travelled with me.  I met so many great people, who are now my friends, from all over the world! 

I will take the friendships I have made, the experiences I have, and the lessons I learnt with me throughout my entire life.  Life is beautiful, and I intend to live it that way.

After Travels: The Northern Territory

-THE NORTHERN TERRITORY-

DARWIN

KAKADU

KATHERINE

LITCHFIELD

This is the last blog from my travels in Australia.  I can't believe the time has come for me to leave OZ, but all good things must come to an end.  It is time for me to end this chapter of my little book of life, and I am eager and look forward to starting a brand new one!

The last part of our travels in Australia were in the Northern Territory.  We began when we flew into Darwin on November 11.  We then rented another 'Wicked' van, and headed to the outback.  I was not sure what to expect, but it sure was an experience!

Our first stop was right outside of Darwin.  We were eager to see some crocodiles in actions, so we went on a jumping crocodile cruise.  We got more than we expected, and as you can see from the photo, and am holding a giant python!! 

It got right up in there...must be an ass man.  As you can tell, the guy behind me thinks it's hysterical!

These crocs were wild, and they were hungry.  It was amazing to see them jump out of the water for that raw meat!

They are huge, and quite fast in the wild.  This particular croc got seriously angry, which was fun to see...but scary at the same time!

Observing the crocodiles at a safe distance.

We then headed to Kakadu.  Kakadu is Australia's largest national park, and is filled with beautiful sites to see.  Unfortunately, we came at the wrong time of the year.  Due to the wet season, most of the major things we wanted to experience were closed.  We still got to see some really nice places, but due to the annoying flies and mosquitos, we only stayed in Kakadu for two days, and moved on to Katherine earlier than we had originally planned for.

In order to control the vegetation and natural beauty of Australia, controlled bush fires are set.  As a result of this, some trees shed their bark, and it makes the forest look really cool.  As you can see, there are white trees amongst the burnt black trees. 

On this particular hike, there was a path with three options of where to go.  We were at a cross-road...here is Sandra showing our confusion as to which path we should continue on.

We then came to Ubir.  Ubir is a wonderful and gorgeous place which showcases the Aboriginal culture, and tells the stories of the past Aboriginal civilization through art.

This photo is an Aboriginal man who owns Ubir.  The Australian government has leased it from him, and they now preserve and protect the land, but must ask him first, before they can make any changes to it.

Aboriginal art work.  Rock painting was extremely popular, and was used to tell stories.

This was a part of Ubir that housed a family.  It was perfect because the amazing rock form provided shelter during the wet season.

Ubir had some amazing rock formations.  We climbed to the top of them, to watch the sunset, and got some lovely photographs.

Panoramic view.

Feeling free, and glad to have a little relief from the flies up here!

The sunset was gorgeous, and was amazing to see atop this rock.

We then headed to Katherine, which is a very small town.  Katherine is known for the Katherine Gorge. Movies such as 'Roo' and 'Night at the Museum' have been filmed there.  It was full of Aboriginal people, but when we got to the gorge, it was out in the middle of nowhere, calm, and peaceful.

Along the way, we came across a HUGE dead bull!!

While in Katherine, we visited the Cutta Cutta caves.  This is pretty much the only other thing to do in Katherine, and it was neat to see where all the bats live!

No touching!!

We stayed at this camp site one night.  The French gals we met at Whitsundays were staying here, and invited us to join them.  It was lovely and we had a nice time there!

Sandra and I took a two hour cruise through the Katherine Gorge.  Here I am before getting on the boat.

The Gorge.

This is the most photographed part of the gorge, so I decided to take a photo as well :)

Our final stop was at Litchfield.  Litchfield is a national park as well, but is much smaller than Kakadu.  It was my favorite stop, as it had less flies, and gorgeous waterfalls!  We spent three days and two nights here, and soaked up all that Litchfield had to offer.

Florence Falls

Me and Malin swimming right near the falls.  As you can see we look tiny...they were really large waterfalls!

The Rock Holes

The rock holes were pristine water that could be used as drinking water.  It was great because the water was cool, which was nice to take a dip in after a day of hiking!

Cooling off.

Another waterfall...this one was cool because of the caves surrounding the fall.

Wangi Falls

We spent the night at camp sites, and we were surrounded by the outback nature and animals...

Momma and baby Wallaby 

The baby...SO cute!

The baby got scared, so he headed back into the momma's pouch.

The last waterfall we visited.

The Magnetic Termite Mounds.  Termites build these mounds, and it can take over 100 years for them to get to this size.  They build them because they like the heat, and these mounds attract the heat.  It was incredible to see a field full of these termite mounds...but it looked a lot like tombstones to me!

After a long 8 days traveling in the outback, I was ready to get back to civilization! We headed back to Darwin to spend the last three days in Australia, before leaving for Bali!  It has been a joy traveling through Australia, and seeing the REAL Australia.  We have been all over, done typical tourist things, but have been lucky enough to explore on our own as well.  I am so blessed and lucky to be have had the opportunity to go on this trip!

Now...Off to Bali, Indonesia