Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Travel Log: Dragon Quest
There have been several points on this trip where we've had to scratch things off the list. They've either been too expensive, too time consuming, or too much of a pain in the ass for what we'd be accomplishing. For the most part these have been few and not always noticeable because there have been so many other things happening while on this trip. Sometimes it's hard though when you know that there is a good chance that this may be the only opportunity, so passing it up may mean it's gone forever. That is what we had started to think about going to Komodo National Park. The travel book we had indicated that trips to the island weren't exactly easy or cheap. So we had resigned ourselves to getting incredibly close to the place, but likely not going. Then we arrived at the Gili Islands, where right outside our hotel was a little kiosk with a sign that said Komodo Adventures.
The package included a four day, four night boat trip to the island, with other adventure stops along the way. The price wasn't inexpensive, but considering they would be covering our meals, accomodations, and transport, it seemed like it would be worth the cost. We booked for the day after next, so that we could actually enjoy the island that we just arrived at. An island so small that it only took an hour and a half to walk around. That was with us going slow and taking pictures. Still it was a nice relaxing place to be with less than a week left for this portion of our trip. This trip has had one constant, which seems to be once we've gotten used to a place, we leave it. It's not because we don't like it. It's more to do with the fact that there was so much to see and do that it didn't feel right being in a place long enough to get bored with it. We were looking for something that would more or less take away the decisions and planning that would be required for some of the final days. I can see why people book all inclusive cruises or hotels. There is something nice about knowing that the heavy lifting has been taken care of and your only responsibility is to enjoy it.
We had to wake up early and catch a boat off the island to the neighboring island. It's always a little bit of of a bummer when you have to leave a good place early, especially when you know you've been enjoying it up until that point. As usual with travel days there was a lot of hurry up and wait. We scrambled onto what must have been the locals morning commute boat as there were enough people on board that we were close to sitting on each other's laps. Thankfully the ride was quick and I even managed to strike up a conversation with a fellow traveler, talking about where we've been and where we're going. At this point in the trip talking about the trip is as easy as talking about your hometown. When we arrived our booking agent met us at the pier and had us walk to a little cafe. Apparently our ride misunderstood the concept of picking people up at the pier as him and the booking agent exchanged some words about, which I didn't understand, but got the general meaning. We got to the cafe, which was the meeting point for all other travelers on our trip. The only problem was that it was 8:30 in the morning and as we sat down they told us we wouldn't be leaving until 11:30. I know I'm a stickler for time and that's just not how things are done here. Something that's supposed to pick you up at 7:30 means anywhere within thirty minutes of then is good enough. Still this was pushing it. It didn't make sense that we had to catch the early boat over to the cafe if we were going to just sit around for three hours. We could have done that at our hotel, which we had paid for through noon. It gave us time to talk to other travelers and form alliances for our deadly game of boat living. Three hours didn't so much fly by as they limped along. When it was finally time everyone was told to walk back to the pier. Efficiency isn't the strongest trait for the travel industry here. At least we were on our way towards the dragons.
The boat we were going to be living on was...smaller than the photo in the brochure. It was also a little bit shabbier. While I don't want to offend the fine people of Indonesia, there are times when you realize what a developing nation really means. Both Thailand and Malaysia had their quirks and you become accustomed to a certain level of care and maintenance. Indonesia is no different. Some places are nice and some, well they at least seem to be trying. If I had to sum it up into a single word, it would be 'Almost'. They almost reach the level of quality they're trying for. Honestly it's part of the charm of this country because the people are usually so friendly and easy to smile. You appreciate what they're going for. This boat was not one of those times. This was one of those times when you've found something online that looks amazing and then when you go see it in person you find out that the custom paint job is faded to the point of being irrelevant. It was ok though. We had stayed in worse places and it's all part of the adventure. Right?
I don't want to use this to complain about the trip because we've been very fortunate to be on this trip at all. It can't all be unicorns farting rainbows filled with candy sprinkles. Our cabin was a sauna resting on a waterbed attached to a rollercoaster. The first night we sweated ourselves to sleep. The second night we dreamed about how would we manage to get off a sinking ship and get back to safety. The third night was filled with music, beer, and water so still you'd think you were on dry land. The fourth day we wandered through the jungle looking for dragons, only to find them lounging around the village like a bunch of lazy cats. Having seen an animal in the zoo and then seeing it in the wild are two very different things. These dragons did their best to bridge the gap by making sure to lay still long enough for everyone to get photos. Some even were brave enough to get close to have their picture taken with the dragon, from a safe distance of course. Our rangers had sticks in case one of the dragons got unruly, but they had no interest in us as we were a group of thirty white European travelers that were constantly making noise. In the end I can say I've been to the island of Komodo and walked among the dragons.
We've only a couple days away from leaving SE Asia. We're headed back to Bali to find some good food and relaxation in the highest order. As usual, I'm interested to see what happens next.
The package included a four day, four night boat trip to the island, with other adventure stops along the way. The price wasn't inexpensive, but considering they would be covering our meals, accomodations, and transport, it seemed like it would be worth the cost. We booked for the day after next, so that we could actually enjoy the island that we just arrived at. An island so small that it only took an hour and a half to walk around. That was with us going slow and taking pictures. Still it was a nice relaxing place to be with less than a week left for this portion of our trip. This trip has had one constant, which seems to be once we've gotten used to a place, we leave it. It's not because we don't like it. It's more to do with the fact that there was so much to see and do that it didn't feel right being in a place long enough to get bored with it. We were looking for something that would more or less take away the decisions and planning that would be required for some of the final days. I can see why people book all inclusive cruises or hotels. There is something nice about knowing that the heavy lifting has been taken care of and your only responsibility is to enjoy it.
We had to wake up early and catch a boat off the island to the neighboring island. It's always a little bit of of a bummer when you have to leave a good place early, especially when you know you've been enjoying it up until that point. As usual with travel days there was a lot of hurry up and wait. We scrambled onto what must have been the locals morning commute boat as there were enough people on board that we were close to sitting on each other's laps. Thankfully the ride was quick and I even managed to strike up a conversation with a fellow traveler, talking about where we've been and where we're going. At this point in the trip talking about the trip is as easy as talking about your hometown. When we arrived our booking agent met us at the pier and had us walk to a little cafe. Apparently our ride misunderstood the concept of picking people up at the pier as him and the booking agent exchanged some words about, which I didn't understand, but got the general meaning. We got to the cafe, which was the meeting point for all other travelers on our trip. The only problem was that it was 8:30 in the morning and as we sat down they told us we wouldn't be leaving until 11:30. I know I'm a stickler for time and that's just not how things are done here. Something that's supposed to pick you up at 7:30 means anywhere within thirty minutes of then is good enough. Still this was pushing it. It didn't make sense that we had to catch the early boat over to the cafe if we were going to just sit around for three hours. We could have done that at our hotel, which we had paid for through noon. It gave us time to talk to other travelers and form alliances for our deadly game of boat living. Three hours didn't so much fly by as they limped along. When it was finally time everyone was told to walk back to the pier. Efficiency isn't the strongest trait for the travel industry here. At least we were on our way towards the dragons.
The boat we were going to be living on was...smaller than the photo in the brochure. It was also a little bit shabbier. While I don't want to offend the fine people of Indonesia, there are times when you realize what a developing nation really means. Both Thailand and Malaysia had their quirks and you become accustomed to a certain level of care and maintenance. Indonesia is no different. Some places are nice and some, well they at least seem to be trying. If I had to sum it up into a single word, it would be 'Almost'. They almost reach the level of quality they're trying for. Honestly it's part of the charm of this country because the people are usually so friendly and easy to smile. You appreciate what they're going for. This boat was not one of those times. This was one of those times when you've found something online that looks amazing and then when you go see it in person you find out that the custom paint job is faded to the point of being irrelevant. It was ok though. We had stayed in worse places and it's all part of the adventure. Right?
I don't want to use this to complain about the trip because we've been very fortunate to be on this trip at all. It can't all be unicorns farting rainbows filled with candy sprinkles. Our cabin was a sauna resting on a waterbed attached to a rollercoaster. The first night we sweated ourselves to sleep. The second night we dreamed about how would we manage to get off a sinking ship and get back to safety. The third night was filled with music, beer, and water so still you'd think you were on dry land. The fourth day we wandered through the jungle looking for dragons, only to find them lounging around the village like a bunch of lazy cats. Having seen an animal in the zoo and then seeing it in the wild are two very different things. These dragons did their best to bridge the gap by making sure to lay still long enough for everyone to get photos. Some even were brave enough to get close to have their picture taken with the dragon, from a safe distance of course. Our rangers had sticks in case one of the dragons got unruly, but they had no interest in us as we were a group of thirty white European travelers that were constantly making noise. In the end I can say I've been to the island of Komodo and walked among the dragons.
We've only a couple days away from leaving SE Asia. We're headed back to Bali to find some good food and relaxation in the highest order. As usual, I'm interested to see what happens next.
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Travel Log: Tipping Point
In America we tip for so many things. Someone brings you a cup of coffee. You tip them. Someone takes your bag to your room. You tip them. However, there are slight variations on these services where you're not supposed to tip. I've never quite figured out when and where these are. When you hire movers you're apparently supposed to tip them and/or the driver, even though you've paid for their services. At a fast food place they may bring you your food on a tray, but you don't tip them. If there is a set of rules for tipping, I've never seen it. Add to that trying to figure out how much you're supposed to tip for things. When I was younger the standard tip was 10%, which was for a good job. Now it seems that is considered being rude. Tipping 15-20% is pretty standard it seems, even though in a lot of these situations the person is simply doing the job that you've already paid for. Very confusing.
It's even more difficult here in Indonesia because the currency is so much different. An American dollar is worth over ten thousand of the local currency. So it's hard to know if 10% is reasonable or not. With taxi drivers we've tended to be a lot more generous because after seeing how they are forced to navigate the tiny streets here, a tip is really a thank you for getting us there alive and with all of our pieces still attached. We did learn though that sometimes, maybe most times, the taxi drivers have incentive to stop at certain places that tourists like. For instance a view point overlooking much of the hills and rice fields will have someone there with exotic animals or trinkets. The driver stops, you get your picture, maybe the guy at the stand gets a few dollars, and the taxi driver might get a split. I'm not sure, but I've seen money changing hands so something is going on. Most of the time this has been all very casual, with the option to politely refuse if you don't want something. The closer we got to one of the main holy temples in Bali, the more requests for money we got. Some of which didn't feel like requests either. As we stood on the side of a road taking a picture of the mountains, a man in a camouflage jacket rode up on a scooter and told us that we have to pay. When we asked what for, he simply said that lots of tourists come through here and we have to pay. He said this as cars and motorcycles kept whizzing by, more full of locals than of tourists. The taxi driver handed us some money and we paid the guy, who then hopped on his scooter and drove off. Apparently we were on some kind of toll road and didn't even know it. Our second toll came when we were stopped on the way to the temple. A woman asked our names and gave us a blessing. She then immediately held out your hands and said 'Now gimme money'. I'm not even kidding about that part. We both saw it coming, but were disappointed just the same. I don't think blessings can be contingent on payment. Either way, we gave her some money and were on our way.
Finally we arrived at the largest temple on Bali and were greeted by guides, who insisted we had to 'donate' in order to be accompanied by a local guide. We had read in our travel book that it simply wasn't true, but we had been riding in a car for nearly four hours and were exhausted. We 'donated' some money and walked with a guide into the holy temple so we could get some very expensive photographs. And at the end of the little field trip our seemingly nice guide held out his hand to ask for more money, to which we responded that we already donated and that he should take up his collection from the guy who had our holy offering. With that we left and decided that the other temple we had planned on seeing was off the list.
I get that people need to make money and I get that some people will run a scam if they think it will work. The part that bothered me was that they used what is supposed to be a holy place as a way to guilt people into paying. Maybe in the past tourists had come and treated the place like garbage by filling it with garbage. The locals, seeing a chance to earn some money from the loud tourists decided it's best to overcharge just in case because they will get money from both the good and the bad. Either way, it was the first part of the trip where it felt like we were being taken advantage of and it kept us on guard for a long while after that.
After all that, we managed to arrive at a small town that is built a reputation around scuba diving to a somewhat famous US Naval ship, the USS Liberty, which is sunk just off the shore. Never having done scuba before, it was kind of amazing having my first trip be to a sunken ship filled with tropical fish, barracudas, sea slugs, and manta rays. Granted I spent the first half of my dive focused on my breathing and simply not dying, but once I had gotten the hang of things, it was really amazing being in a place that the human body wasn't really supposed to be.
We've entered the last couple of weeks before we leave SE Asia and start making our way back home. I'm not sure what to expect. I am excited for what comes next though.
Finally we arrived at the largest temple on Bali and were greeted by guides, who insisted we had to 'donate' in order to be accompanied by a local guide. We had read in our travel book that it simply wasn't true, but we had been riding in a car for nearly four hours and were exhausted. We 'donated' some money and walked with a guide into the holy temple so we could get some very expensive photographs. And at the end of the little field trip our seemingly nice guide held out his hand to ask for more money, to which we responded that we already donated and that he should take up his collection from the guy who had our holy offering. With that we left and decided that the other temple we had planned on seeing was off the list.
I get that people need to make money and I get that some people will run a scam if they think it will work. The part that bothered me was that they used what is supposed to be a holy place as a way to guilt people into paying. Maybe in the past tourists had come and treated the place like garbage by filling it with garbage. The locals, seeing a chance to earn some money from the loud tourists decided it's best to overcharge just in case because they will get money from both the good and the bad. Either way, it was the first part of the trip where it felt like we were being taken advantage of and it kept us on guard for a long while after that.
After all that, we managed to arrive at a small town that is built a reputation around scuba diving to a somewhat famous US Naval ship, the USS Liberty, which is sunk just off the shore. Never having done scuba before, it was kind of amazing having my first trip be to a sunken ship filled with tropical fish, barracudas, sea slugs, and manta rays. Granted I spent the first half of my dive focused on my breathing and simply not dying, but once I had gotten the hang of things, it was really amazing being in a place that the human body wasn't really supposed to be.
We've entered the last couple of weeks before we leave SE Asia and start making our way back home. I'm not sure what to expect. I am excited for what comes next though.
Monday, May 18, 2015
Travel Log: Australian Hawaii
It turns out going to Jakarta and not liking it wasn't all that bad of a thing to happen. Because of it we've come to Bali earlier than originally planned. The first stop was Kuta Beach, which in the travel book was described as where you'd experience the hedonistic beach world. It sounded almost post-apocalyptic. Then we saw what it was. It was a street lined with resorts on one side and shopping and bars on the other. In either direction from our hotel was a mall. Apparently this area is very popular with Australian tourists, who come here on an annual basis. There were several visitors who behaved like they had been friends with the staff for awhile, which either happens over several trips or this is a movie and they're the main character of the story and have somehow gotten close to everyone they come into contact with in a matter of a few scenes. It must be nice to have something tropical so close...like Hawaii. The downside to this though is that every white person is assumed to be from Australia so the 'Hey, Mate. Shopping?' continues. It was actually getting a little tedious not being able to walk more than ten feet without having to say 'no thank you'. When everyone looks at you like a giant, white ATM with horrible taste it's hard to really relax and enjoy yourself. It wasn't all bad though. It was just something that took some getting use to.
After that we headed towards the town Ubud, which is known as an artistic area and a lot more relaxed. On the main road, which is called Monkey Forest Road (spoiler alert monkeys) there are endless galleries of paintings, sculptures, souvenirs, good clothing, and wooden penis bottle openers. And right at the center of this is the Monkey Forest, where gangster monkeys roam around waiting for a tourist to give them a park-approved banana. If they get tired of waiting, they'll just climb onto you and see what's in your bag. They have no fear and one little one even came up and bit us, just to show us that it could. There is something very disarming about watching how they watch us. 'When she looks at you, you can tell she's working things out. They remember.'
The town also has what is said to be the best tacos in Indonesia, which may be a bold claim or just a simple trick since they may be the only ones who make tacos. Either way, we managed to come around the world and find damn good tacos. Good enough that we ate there all three days we were in town. Even on our last day when we only had an hour left before our taxi (taksi) came to pick us up for the next stop, we made sure to stop in for one last bite. Before we left the town, we made sure to take advantage of some of the activities nearby, which included river rafting. Rafting may be too strong of a term. It was more like a water park ride with the safeties disabled. Our guide was gracious enough to give us paddles and tell us to paddle a few times so we felt like we were white water rafting. The best part was when we dropped off a twelve foot waterfall before we could continue on for a lunch break.
We've since arrived in Munduk, which is a nice little mountain village with a few resorts that seem to cater to the French. The views are fantastic and we're basically staying in a movie. Right now I'm on the side patio, overlooking the grounds while the cicadas go bananas letting everyone know that the sun is going down soon. Once it gets dark here though most people don't go out as there is a local belief that the jungle may be inhabited by spirits or demons. Based on the size of the spiders I've seen, I can see how someone would think it's a demon. Either way once the sun goes down I'm staying in the light. No need to find out if the locals are right or not.
After that we headed towards the town Ubud, which is known as an artistic area and a lot more relaxed. On the main road, which is called Monkey Forest Road (spoiler alert monkeys) there are endless galleries of paintings, sculptures, souvenirs, good clothing, and wooden penis bottle openers. And right at the center of this is the Monkey Forest, where gangster monkeys roam around waiting for a tourist to give them a park-approved banana. If they get tired of waiting, they'll just climb onto you and see what's in your bag. They have no fear and one little one even came up and bit us, just to show us that it could. There is something very disarming about watching how they watch us. 'When she looks at you, you can tell she's working things out. They remember.'
The town also has what is said to be the best tacos in Indonesia, which may be a bold claim or just a simple trick since they may be the only ones who make tacos. Either way, we managed to come around the world and find damn good tacos. Good enough that we ate there all three days we were in town. Even on our last day when we only had an hour left before our taxi (taksi) came to pick us up for the next stop, we made sure to stop in for one last bite. Before we left the town, we made sure to take advantage of some of the activities nearby, which included river rafting. Rafting may be too strong of a term. It was more like a water park ride with the safeties disabled. Our guide was gracious enough to give us paddles and tell us to paddle a few times so we felt like we were white water rafting. The best part was when we dropped off a twelve foot waterfall before we could continue on for a lunch break.
We've since arrived in Munduk, which is a nice little mountain village with a few resorts that seem to cater to the French. The views are fantastic and we're basically staying in a movie. Right now I'm on the side patio, overlooking the grounds while the cicadas go bananas letting everyone know that the sun is going down soon. Once it gets dark here though most people don't go out as there is a local belief that the jungle may be inhabited by spirits or demons. Based on the size of the spiders I've seen, I can see how someone would think it's a demon. Either way once the sun goes down I'm staying in the light. No need to find out if the locals are right or not.
Monday, May 11, 2015
Travel Log: Jakarta
Well it had to happen eventually. We found a place that we don't like. At first I thought it was just from being spoiled by Singapore, but it feels like it goes beyond that. Not a lot of tourists come through this city and it's not setup for visitors, so I can't really fault the city for not being travel-friendly. It's a bit like if someone from Eastern Europe went to visit Billings, MT and wondered why no one understood them. That said, we tried to do a few things here to make the best of our couple of days stay. It was strange though because people everywhere would stare at you. At first I thought maybe I had an alien face hugger attached to my face, but no, it's just because I'm a tall white person. After awhile it makes a person feel self-conscious to the point that I don't want to play anymore.
Originally this was supposed to be a jumping off point to the last part of our South East Asia leg of the trip, but after finding out how difficult it is to get out of the city to the areas we want to visit on Java we've decided to scrap the whole island and head straight to Bali, where it's more suited to our frame of mind at this point in our trip. From there we should be able to do some island hopping and maybe even see some dragons!
Originally this was supposed to be a jumping off point to the last part of our South East Asia leg of the trip, but after finding out how difficult it is to get out of the city to the areas we want to visit on Java we've decided to scrap the whole island and head straight to Bali, where it's more suited to our frame of mind at this point in our trip. From there we should be able to do some island hopping and maybe even see some dragons!
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Travel Log: Singapore
Maybe it's because I've never been to New York City or Beverly Hills before, but Singapore felt like a city that chose all the 'best' stuff and threw it into a single location. Back home you'd walk down the street and see shops or maybe a mall. In Singapore you have malls next to each other like we have stores next to each other, each one with insanely high-end products that I can barely afford to look at much less buy. I don't even know how people make enough money to keep all these places in business. Still it was fun at least looking around and pretending that the almighty dollar would see us through. This was the first part of the trip where it felt very close to home and yet very far away. It was also the first place where we decided to just embrace the tourist path since there were so many great things to do and see.
The thing about Singapore is that you are well aware of how strict they are on things. When flying in they tell you drug trafficking has a mandatory death sentence. While you're free to have a good time and spend money on most anything you want, it felt like if you step out of line the punishment would be severe and possibly done as an example to everyone else on the consequences. It's hard to know which parts of their system is doing the most good, but whatever it is everyone who lived there kept talking about how fast the city is changing. It felt like it was slightly in the future, so it's interesting to think about how it will look in ten years.
We've entered our final portion of South East Asia, with our last country being Indonesia, which will be very different from Malaysia. I'm not sure what to expect because every time we get used to something or some place, we leave it. It's strange knowing that after all this time we've only hit the halfway point of our total holiday. In some ways it's felt endless and in others it seems to be going by so quickly. Strangely enough with the help of Facebook I still get to see what my friends are doing and wish I hadn't missed out on something. It's hard to not think about where you aren't. Time moves so fast though it won't be long before I'm looking back at this trip and wondering how it got behind me so fast.
The thing about Singapore is that you are well aware of how strict they are on things. When flying in they tell you drug trafficking has a mandatory death sentence. While you're free to have a good time and spend money on most anything you want, it felt like if you step out of line the punishment would be severe and possibly done as an example to everyone else on the consequences. It's hard to know which parts of their system is doing the most good, but whatever it is everyone who lived there kept talking about how fast the city is changing. It felt like it was slightly in the future, so it's interesting to think about how it will look in ten years.
We've entered our final portion of South East Asia, with our last country being Indonesia, which will be very different from Malaysia. I'm not sure what to expect because every time we get used to something or some place, we leave it. It's strange knowing that after all this time we've only hit the halfway point of our total holiday. In some ways it's felt endless and in others it seems to be going by so quickly. Strangely enough with the help of Facebook I still get to see what my friends are doing and wish I hadn't missed out on something. It's hard to not think about where you aren't. Time moves so fast though it won't be long before I'm looking back at this trip and wondering how it got behind me so fast.
Friday, May 1, 2015
Travel Log: Reversal of Fortune
We had our first real misadventure yesterday. After a day of seeing the sites in Kuala Lumpur we decided to take a bus to the Cameron Highlands for trekking, tea tasting, and honey collecting. We should have known things were going to be interesting when everyone kept talking about the long Labor Day holiday that started on Friday, when we were set to leave. We were told to be on the bus platform at 4 PM for our 4:30 bus. By 4:15 we could tell there was no real system in place. A bus would show up and people would scramble to get on, only to realize that it wasn't going where they wanted to go. Clutching our bags to us after a close call with them almost heading off to Singapore without us, we kept watching for our bus. Thankfully there were several English speaking travelers who were all going to the same place so there was a bit of comfort there. Almost by chance an unofficial looking bus station worker said Cameron Highlands just loud enough for us to hear as he waved us off the platform and then across the bus station, outside onto the side of the street, and into our waiting bus. At least that part was taken care of. I pulled out the iPad and started a movie, with the intent to just watch stuff until the four hour trip was over.
About halfway through the second movie we realized that the stop and go traffic had been happening for most of Tom Cruise's spy adventure through exotic lands. Looking our the front window all you could see were tail lights for miles...or kilometers if you want to keep with the local system. No problem, we'll be a little bit late, but should still have plenty of time. We kept hearing people talking about how they hadn't booked a room yet, however, they heard there were plenty of places so they would sort it out when they arrived. After over six hours on the road the bus finally pulled over...to the rest station that was meant to be the halfway point. The place looked like something out of the apocalypse. Cars were parked everywhere. Some with the hoods open. Some wth their four way flashers still going. The lines for food and bathrooms were at least thirty minutes long. You get really creative and a lot less shy when you have to pee and only have minutes to do it before the bus is set to leave.
When we finally arrived in town it was 2:30 AM, the whole journey taking just over ten hours to complete. We asked the bus driver where there was a taxi stand and he just waved his hand in some direction away from his bus. A few minutes later he was gone and everyone who was on the bus was now aimlessly wandering the streets trying to figure out where to go next. Thankfully a local took some pity on us and saw an opportunity to make some quick cash and became an impromptu taxi service for us and another couple of travelers from Oregon (small world). It was only a five minute drive to our hotel just outside of town and the sign on the front said 'Full House'. That's when the real fun began.
Several days ago we booked both our bus travel and hotel in this area so we were covered. That is until the front desk person asked for our confirmation number and we realized that our reservation wasn't for tonight, but for twenty days in the future. We suddenly didn't have a place to stay in a town with no taxis and fully booked hotels. We got to a point where we begged for a service room or even a couch to sleep on until we figured it out. Finally the front desk told us that their sister hotel down the road may have the penthouse suite still available for tonight only. With that information we set off into the dark for our 'probably 100 meters' search for hotel. Upon arriving at the darkened sister hotel we were greated by silence and another sign that said 'Full House'. Sitting in the lobby we tried to figure out what we could do next when the overnight attendant came walking down the stairs. I nearly hugged him, I was so happy when he said the penthouse was still available.
What started off as a pretty good day turned sour and then ended with us taking a bubble bath in a real tub. The room is so large you could use it as an indoor jogging course if you don't mind navigating around the antique writing desk, the fake fireplace, the two sitting areas, or two double beds. It took me five minutes to turn off all the lights. I felt like I was going through a castle blowing out the candelabras. Thankfully we found rooms at our first hotel for the next two nights so we're mostly back on track from where we started, but it was quite the adventure getting to this point. Of course not all adventures are fun when you're having them.
About halfway through the second movie we realized that the stop and go traffic had been happening for most of Tom Cruise's spy adventure through exotic lands. Looking our the front window all you could see were tail lights for miles...or kilometers if you want to keep with the local system. No problem, we'll be a little bit late, but should still have plenty of time. We kept hearing people talking about how they hadn't booked a room yet, however, they heard there were plenty of places so they would sort it out when they arrived. After over six hours on the road the bus finally pulled over...to the rest station that was meant to be the halfway point. The place looked like something out of the apocalypse. Cars were parked everywhere. Some with the hoods open. Some wth their four way flashers still going. The lines for food and bathrooms were at least thirty minutes long. You get really creative and a lot less shy when you have to pee and only have minutes to do it before the bus is set to leave.
When we finally arrived in town it was 2:30 AM, the whole journey taking just over ten hours to complete. We asked the bus driver where there was a taxi stand and he just waved his hand in some direction away from his bus. A few minutes later he was gone and everyone who was on the bus was now aimlessly wandering the streets trying to figure out where to go next. Thankfully a local took some pity on us and saw an opportunity to make some quick cash and became an impromptu taxi service for us and another couple of travelers from Oregon (small world). It was only a five minute drive to our hotel just outside of town and the sign on the front said 'Full House'. That's when the real fun began.
Several days ago we booked both our bus travel and hotel in this area so we were covered. That is until the front desk person asked for our confirmation number and we realized that our reservation wasn't for tonight, but for twenty days in the future. We suddenly didn't have a place to stay in a town with no taxis and fully booked hotels. We got to a point where we begged for a service room or even a couch to sleep on until we figured it out. Finally the front desk told us that their sister hotel down the road may have the penthouse suite still available for tonight only. With that information we set off into the dark for our 'probably 100 meters' search for hotel. Upon arriving at the darkened sister hotel we were greated by silence and another sign that said 'Full House'. Sitting in the lobby we tried to figure out what we could do next when the overnight attendant came walking down the stairs. I nearly hugged him, I was so happy when he said the penthouse was still available.
What started off as a pretty good day turned sour and then ended with us taking a bubble bath in a real tub. The room is so large you could use it as an indoor jogging course if you don't mind navigating around the antique writing desk, the fake fireplace, the two sitting areas, or two double beds. It took me five minutes to turn off all the lights. I felt like I was going through a castle blowing out the candelabras. Thankfully we found rooms at our first hotel for the next two nights so we're mostly back on track from where we started, but it was quite the adventure getting to this point. Of course not all adventures are fun when you're having them.
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