The Gili Islands are known for being some of the most beautiful islands in Indonesia, having managed to preserve their pristine beaches and authenticity despite growing tourism to Bali and Lombok. And by authenticity, I mean the only form of land transportation is horse carriage or bicycle! Ah-mazing, especially after living in Taiwan where I’m […]

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We weren’t expecting to see spiritual warfare when we went to Padangbai. Our main purpose for visiting the small fishing village was actually just to check out the action below the water: reef sharks, manta rays, turtles, and general ocean scenes seemingly taken straight from Finding Nemo. And while we were fortunate to experience the […]

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We were sitting at breakfast in the middle of who-knows-where-Java, drenched to the bone and devouring our glamorous breakfast of plain toast and Nescafe after a failed attempt at climbing Mt. Bromo.  (Well, in all fairness, we succeeded in waking up at 4am and climbing to the viewpoint to see the sunrise. It was the […]

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‘Off the beaten path’ travel is all the rage right now. It seems every twenty-something backpacker is claiming you should throw the guidebook out the window, leave your itinerary at home, and just surrender yourself to all the wonders of travel that will just miraculously fall into your lap. And obviously, all of it will […]

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We had heard the warnings. Fellow travelers felt personally responsible to inform us that Kuta was now the remnants of a past paradise, transformed into an overrun tourist town where too many high-priced souvenirs and western restaurants (think Hard Rock Café and Wendys) now dominate the landscape. We heeded their kind advice, and chose to […]

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Anything that has to do with poop is automatically deemed either childishly humorous or just super gross. Even saying the word out loud might bring a chuckle along, especially if you’re of the same maturity level Dan is. Of course, there is always an exception. In this case, it’s Bali’s luwak coffee. I was lucky enough […]

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I never thought I would find myself hiking to the center of an active volcano at 2am in the morning, fighting off clouds of suffocating volcanic gasses, all for the sake of seeing some ‘magical’ blue flames. But there I was, doing exactly that. With a tour guide, five Europeans, and a couple of headlamps, […]

The post Chasing Blue Flames and Surviving Sulfur Clouds–Mt. Ijen appeared first on A Cruising Couple.

 A bottle of vino and a sunset at Jimbaran Bay? Bali, Don’t mind if we do.   

The post Welcome to Bali! appeared first on A Cruising Couple.

Dan doesn’t normally help too much with writing the blog posts because he ‘claims’ he’s no good at it. Which is a shame, because we all know he is absolutely hilarious. Normally he will oblige me by going back into the posts and adding his own zingers here and there. For Yogyakarta he’s done the […]

The post Batik, Puppets, Jackfruit and Sultans in Jogja appeared first on A Cruising Couple.

This is Borobudur:     And this is Prambanan:     And these magnificent ancient complexes are reason enough to include a jump over to Java on your next visit to Bali.     Dating back to the 9th century, Borobudur is not just the largest Buddhist temple in the world, but also one of the most […]

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