It’s been a while since we left Jogja, and even though a lot has happened, nothing much as happened! Sound confusing? Well, maybe a BIT has happened. Most of the time though, it has just felt like we are marking time back in Bali, waiting for the country to reopen, and flights to begin again. In truth, we have simply been catching up. Our breath, as well as our blogs.
Being back in Bali has allowed me to work on my blog more, and catching up on a lot of things that tend to fall by the wayside as you are traveling. That’s the thing with being a travel blogger – you don’t get time to do both. At least not all the time. Sometimes you just have to stop and take a break. Catching up on things, and then moving on.
So Jo and I have taken a bit of a rest, but that doesn’t mean we have stayed still! We have been able to visit a few of our favorite places in Bali again, and still have some on the list yet. So far, we have been back to Karang Boma in Uluwatu, and Tanjung Balangan at Jimbaran. Both are favorite sunset spots for us. We even took the opportunity to get back to the plane at Nyang Nyang, before it gets cut off for public access.
We also took a day to head up to Ubud. The plan was to lunch at one of our fave warungs in the Paddies, but they were closed! Luckily, we did some shopping in Sukawati along the way, so the day wasn’t a total loss. A couple of days at Munduk was also on the cards, catching up with our friends at Adila Homestay, as we do every time we are in Bali.
The big trip we have done over the past couple of weeks was to Mount Ijen in East Java. If you subscribe to my blog, you will have seen the guide that I posted a couple of days later. This is an incredible place, and one that I highly recommend anyone to visit if you are in Indonesia.
We made the most of the trip, and actually planned and did the entire thing alone, without a tour or guides. You can do this at Ijen, and save a lot of money. I even rode the scooter all the way from Nusa Dua in Bali. Taking it across the ferry was an experience, even though I have traveled on that ferry a couple of times before.
Funny story. On the way back on the ferry, we parked the scooter in the spot we were directed to when we boarded. An hour later, on the other side, we went to find the scooter to disembark. Unfortunately, they had moved it! The ferry was packed to the rafters with cars and trucks, and about 100 other scooters. I must have looked funny as I was scrambling around the ferry, squeezing between cars trying to find it!
Our trip to Ijen was great. The weather wasn’t too kind to us, and we suffered with the views. But the climb was awesome, and the people we met amazing. We will certainly be going back again as soon as we can. You can check out the article about Ijen through the link below.
The other big news for me was the addition to the arsenal of a new camera. The Insta360 One X2 has been on the Wishlist for a while now, and is a great little action camera! I have already added at least one great reel to my instagram. So check that out.
As for right now, I am enjoying going to the beach every day, swimming and having a cold beer on the sand. Marking time is definitely the word for it right now, but it is nice to be relaxing and taking it slow. But then, that’s what I love, slow travel.
In a week or so we will be looking to head by road back to Jakarta, via Jogja and Malang. This will be great, if we can do it, as we will get the chance to check out a couple of spots that I have always wanted to go, such as Mount Bromo.
Fingers crossed!
Then, in April, it will be off to Australia to visit family, before jetting off to Europe for 6 months. Looking forward to that!
Bali is reopening, and they have just introduced the VOA once again. Awesome news for those that want to come to Bali. In a week they are talking of dropping all quarantine on a trial basis. Once again, fingers crossed it all goes well.
Well, that’s it until next time, and I will see you again in THE JOURNEY #10!
Cheers
J
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