Mt. Rinjani Trek

Here's one lesson to be learned when traveling....DO NOT listen to Lonely Planet. When reading about the trek in our book, Lonely Planet describes the 2 day trek to the crater rim as an easy hike. However, they did not mention anything about hiking for 9 hours directly STRAIGHT up a mountain. Now, when I say straight up, I mean straight up. There was no zig zagging to make the hike a little easier, no, we hiked straight up the mountain.

The majority of the hike was through the jungle on the worst cut trail I have ever seen in my life, with every step being literally 3 to 4 foot high. After about 6 hours of hiking through the jungle, we thought we would surely be coming to some sort of a break. Oh no, the next 2 hours were spent hiking through sand, literally taking 1 step forward and then falling 5 back. And if that didn't seem like enough, we then had to crawl on rocks for another hour to reach the crater rim.

Once we were at the top, I have to admit this was one of the coolest experiences of my life. But that hike up was literally the most physically challenging thing I have ever done...literally could not walk for 2 days afterwards.

The view from the crater rim...
Me at the top, just happy I made it.
Our campsite...

Our porters busy at working making banana pankcakes. These guys deserve a lot of credit for making our meals and hauling all our supplies up the mountain...all while wearing flip flops.
The morning at sunset. The peak you see at the top of the picture is Bali and if you look very closely, you can see the three Gili Islands branching off from Lombok.

Bungalow Chic

Some of the places we've been staying. Definitely adding one to my backyard later in life.



I fell in love with outdoor showers. Nothing better!

The Gili Islands

When picturing Bali, most people get images of some exotic, far away place with beautiful, deserted beaches...something like what they disguised it as in the "Eat, Pray, Love" movie this summer I assume? Well, sorry to disappoint you all, but in reality Bali is chock full of traffic congested highways, drunken Aussies, littered beaches and all the KFC and McDonalds you can eat.


Since my sister had already discovered this let down on her first visit, we decided to stay only 3 nights in Bali and then head on to the Gili Islands for some peace and quiet. The Gili Islands are are a set of 3 islands off the coast of Lombok and are all only a few kilometers around in size. There are no cars or motorbikes on any of the islands...just horse drawn carriages that add a pleasant jingle to your entire stay. Gili Trawangan, the largest island, is the most touristy. We stayed there for 2 nights and then went on to Gili Air. And this is where I found my favorite place in Southeast Asia.

Gili Air is closest of the islands to Lombok, and from the eastern side where we stayed, you get magnificent views of the mountains on Lombok and Mt. Rinjani. Gili Air is not very populated either, so there was a very remote and secluded feel to our entire stay. It also has a great beach where you can rent snorkels and swim literally 25 yards out to a coral reef with the craziest fish I've ever seen.


Another reason to love the place- the people in Indonesia are amongst some of the nicest we met on the entire trip. Their language is not a tonal language like a lot of the others in Asia, so it is a lot easier for them to learn English....and they love to talk with you! Even little 5 year olds are running up asking you, "Hello! Where are you going?", So cute!

After spending 5 blissful days on Gili Air, we decided it would be a great idea to go climb a mountain. To be continued...

F U- Man on the Motorbike!!!

We have one day to go and I thought I was going to come home without having gotten anything stolen. WRONG! Today as Matt and I inched our way through motorbike drivers on a street in Saigon, one guy blew past and snatched my purse right off of me.

No worries though- I was fully prepared for this to happen since it has already happened to my sister and almost all her friends. My cheap purse broke immediately, so I did not feel a thing. And since I always give anything valuable to Matt, the only thing good he got was my cell phone.

So, Mr. Motorbike Man, please have fun with my $10 cash and Burt's Bea's lip gloss.

Return to the Islands

Ever since I first set sight on the islands of Thailand, I was convinced I had found heaven on earth. And upon returning two years later, I am still a believer. Beautiful white sand beaches, crystal clear water, and a bungalow for only $15 a night makes for the perfect getaway on the cheap.


I chose Koh Tao and Koh Phi Phi because they were my favorite islands from my last visit. Both amazing places but have completely different feels. Koh Tao is a very small, laid back island where most of the life revolves around the beach. We passed the time laying out by day, and eating beach barbecue and watching fire throwers by night. It was the most relaxing 8 days of my life.



Now, Koh Phi Phi has quite a different feel. Most hotels and restaurants are not on the beach and the prettiest beaches on the island are a bit of a hike to get to. Because of this, most people just walk to the port and take a boat out for the day to Phi Phi Leh island. It has great snorkelling (I swam with my first sea turtle!!) and you can go to Maya Bay where "The Beach" was filmed. So although it is not as beach centered as Koh Tao, the breathtaking limestone cliffs make it a must visit in Southeast Asia.




After 15 days of being complete beach bums, we flew out of Phuket to meet my sister and her boyfriend in Bali....my favorite part of the trip so stay tuned!

I promise I did not forget about you!

Wrapping up our tour of Vietnam now in Hoi An. Heading back to Saigon tomorrow for our last week :( I'll be posting next week so make sure to check back!

Miss you all!

Bangkok: by Matt

I had many expectations when arriving in Bangkok and Southeast Asia. Any food personality or writer I have followed has always described it as the land with everything. Delicious food, incredible smiling people, and yes, more delicious food.

Thai food has always been one of my favorite foods (not just to eat but to cook too), and this trip has fully reassured me on how truly amazing the food really is. Did I mention that you can have a meal with an appetizer, a main and a couple of beers for 200 baht? That's $6!!

The street food is cheaper and sometimes even tastier. Think about the average street food vendor...he or she makes this dish in a couple variations (chick, pork, veg) over and over all day, everyday. Basically, they've been able to perfect their dishes better than any restaurant. How can it not be good?

The list could go on for days about the good food that we ate in Bangkok and the Thai islands, but I can't remember it all and people don't want to read every last detail. There was so much curry and tom yum soup that I'm fine not eating it for a few weeks. The Thai spring rolls will be missed but excitement is building for the Vietnamese pork dumplings!

Enough about food though. Bangkok is a crazy and chaotic place. We stayed by Koh San Road, which is the backpackers area of town. The streets are full of cheap knock off clothing and is the place to stock up on goods before the islands where the price doubles.

A lot of our time was spent at travel agencies getting our plans together but we did have some time to check out the Grand Palace. Here are some of the pics.