Days of freedom

We went to Bali for Indonesian Independence Day. The holiday apparently isn't as big of an event as I would have thought; the holiday was Monday, and when we asked a hotel staff member on Sunday what was happening, he said he had no clue and would know more the next day.

We started out in Lovina on the north coast and spent a day looking at temples. We then drove through windy hills to see a volcano and ended up in Kuta because it is close to the airport. We checked about fifteen hotels before we found one with an open room, so we ended up cramming five people into a crappy little sweatbox.

Check out the vacation photos here.

Next weekend, I may possibly return to the Ijen crater, but this is based on hotel availability.

Volcano!

We traveled southwest to Gunung Bromo, an actively smoking volcano in the heart of East Java. I managed not to fall into the crater, and the only physical damage I sustained was some mild sunburn.

It was cold there, so I had to wear all the warm clothes that I brought to Indonesia. We also borrowed some cold-weather gear from a friend, including a dazzling pink sweater that got passed around from person to person over the weekend.

Check out the photos here.

In two weeks, I will be heading back to Bali for the long Independence Day weekend. This trip will include more mountains and temples, as well as some celebratory buffalo races and possible dolphin sightings. I will try to not get trampled by buffalo or eaten by dolphins, since they seek revenge from the pre-dolphin-safe-tuna days.