Back in Bangkok

Written by Karen.

It was interesting times in Bangkok.  Before we left Bangkok for Indonesia, the King of Thailand had been in poor health.  During the time we were visiting Indonesia, the King had passed away.  As we were flying back into Bangkok, it was not clear just how Thailand would respond to the King’s death.  

Impressions: Going Back For The Funeral

Written by Adam

We awakened very early in the morning in Denpasar, Bali.  Our previous experience with vehicular traffic on the island of Bali compelled us to leave plenty of time to procure a taxi and make our way to the airport.  We were fortunate to have our driver choose one of the only true expressways we saw anywhere on the island, and we arrived at the airport without very much delay. 

Remembering my sister, Julie

A Typical Day in Bali

Written by Karen.

Today as we were wandering around town, I thought - not for the first time - what a crazy, unbelievable and wonderful travel adventure we were having.  We weren’t doing anything particularly extreme and hadn’t really planned out our day with activities.  We just wander around town and see what we see. It is a simple and good life. 

Looking Around in Bali

Written by Karen.

During our stay in Ubud, Bali, we were able to meet up with some Swiss friends of ours - Sabine and Andy.  We originally met them when we were overlanding in our VW Vanagon in 2015 in Oaxaca, Mexico.  We stayed in touch as they went further into South America, and we returned to the USA to assist with my sister’s medical care.  They mentioned to us that they were planning on spending some time in Bali, and since we decided that Southeast Asia was next up for our world tour, we made plans to get together - and Bali was the best place.  

Fire and Rice

Written by Karen.

Back in Ubud, Bali, we were tipping towards feeling a little frustrated as the clock ticked off our fourth hour sitting in traffic in our hired car.   Our well-laid plans of extending our Indonesian travel visa for another month was blowing up all around us.  It is 22 kilometers from Ubud to the capital city of Denpasar;  it is only a short distance on a paper map.  

Monkey Business

Written by Karen.

We were on the fence about going to visit the monkeys in the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary in downtown Ubud.  We had heard from other travelers that the monkeys could be a bit impulsive and jump on your head, or tear apart your back pack or unzip zippers in search of food or something shiny.  In both of these cases, you could get scratched or bitten, and immediately our fertile imaginations conceived of all sorts of bad diseases that we could get from a monkey scratch or bite.