Hong Kong is amazing!

What a way to end our trip. After a couple of days in Lombok we went back to Bali. We realized that while the touristy areas of southern Bali are pretty crazy, they do have great beaches and can be pretty relaxing. A weekend in hong kong and now julia and I are on our way home. Did I mention that Julia has a new hairdo?

From Amed to the Gili islands

We realize we are not island people. The views are amazing, the water is crystal blue, stretching as far as the eye can see,bit especially for Jeff and Hana the waves and constant motion
Make it hard to feel good. We got bitten by so many jellyfish today we had to lie down.

What an amazing place; the Gili islands are sandwiched between The larger islands of Bali and Lombok. Tomorrow
We go to the largely Muslim island of Lombok.

Hana's body and bites

Pictures of Gili Meno, Indonesia

Hi, everyone who is listening! We all are having a wonderful time here, today we went snorkeling at nine, we went to about three places. The first one was amazing, with beautiful vibrant fish all different colors some electric blue, some with a rainbow of colors, so that when they moved it would seem to send rays of sunlight everywhere. The second place was supposed to be known for the sea turtles there. And there was, we saw at least four of five of them. But we had to get out early, because little jellyfish seemed to enjoy attacking us. Then we went to the third, and final place, where there was blue , red, yellow, and white corral with exotic dotted long eels, puffer fish, sea horses, and then another sea turtle! This one I spotted out, it was old and looked like it was having a great time munching on a medium sized jellyfish. Then we all got back into the boat cause Hana was feeling a little sea sick, and then all of the sudden, after dad had gotten on the ship he put his head over the side and started vomiting uncontrollably. From there we quickly went back and now we are at our bungalow sitting and relaxing. See you all soon!
Julia

INDONESIA!!!!!

We are going to come home soon, and we are all excited about coming home, but will definitely miss it here.
Julia

From Lembagon to Ubud

This has become my journal, though I'm obviously not very regular. Bali has been more than we expected or imagined. After three nights in southern Bali-- the most touristed area, we went to the island of Lembogon. It is the getaway from the big getaway spot. We tried going without any hotels or arrangements but since we left most of our luggage behind and just had a backpack, we figured it would work out. It naturally did. Really, what can go wrong? Tropical island, beautiful weather and cash. That's all it takes. Our first night was spent in a truly beautiful Australian resort overlooking the volcano on Bali and the beaches of lambagon. It was more than we needed or wanted. The next two nights were "in town" at a cute hotel that also had a great view but without a pool or the other luxuries. We took a boat around the island went snorkeling and swam with manta rays. What a day. The girls tried to lean to surf but lacked a good teacher. We also spent an entire day on bikes riding around the whole island, stopping only to swim or eat and then swim again. The waves and constant motion has pushed us inland to the area of Ubud. Since the book and movie Eat,Pray,Love this area has become the destination. Tons of great hotels, spas, and shopping-- amid picturesque rice paddies and in the shadow of several volcanos. It is easy to understand why people come to Bali and don't leave. We are staying at an interesting hotel that I would totally recommend to anyone. It is also a school for underprivileged Indonesian children who come here to study hospitality,hoping to work in the hotel business someday. The students pretty much run the show from making breakfast in the morning to the massage and spa treatments. They are also known for yoga and meditation. We decided to extend our stay and will be here for 5 days... Maybe longer..

Bali is the best!

After a week on the island of java we flew into Bali on Friday. The hard rain made me ever so scared of flying but once weedy the ground it was as if the Hindu gods of Bali were already taking over. Our one hour flight, complete with a meal and guava juice ended too quickly. We were, after all, watching movies on our individual tv screens. We landed in Bali and everything was different-- no more pollution, noise or the endless traffic. We found out in the morning that indeed there is traffic but we started our adventure here on the southeast side of southern Bali avoiding the most tourists areas. We found pretty much the perfect hotel just five minutes from the empty sandy white beaches. We ate rice and noodles on the beach last night. We are now all over our stomach illnesses and are feeling great! We are off tomorrow to the smaller island of Nusa l Langadon -- a one hour boat ride away. Truly amazing!

Visiting friends in Jakarta!

Indonesia is amazing -- in so many ways. After our brief but memorable layover in Korea we arrive d on Friday evening in sprawling Jakarta. Fortunately our friend Hamid is a VIP here --former government minister of human rights and ambassador to Russia and we were taken care of incredibly well. In fact,we were quite spoiled by him and his lovely family. We enjoyed our guided tours, complete with inside information on the state of democracy. After years of brutal dictatorship and communism, in 1998, the country had a peaceful revolution. With lots of bumps and hiccups the country has inched toward democracy and disorder ever since. Apparently., the people are so fearful of authoritarianism and society so infused with western money and NGO influence it is almost impossible to get things done. Protests are commonplace; in fact we saw a peaceful march of some sort in downtown Jakarta in front on one of the city's exclusive malls -- of which there are no shortage. The gap between the rich and poor is striking if not downright depressing. This is not new to us or any developing country but at least in
China the contrasts were less pronounced. We got the full tour --
$8 coffee from the undigested coffee beans of some Sumatran squirrel to the shacks of the Dutch harbor. What a weekend! Hamid and I so missed our friend malia. It was great to reminisce about our days at The American university.

What to do if you have a day in Korea?

After almost four weeks in china we said goodbye to students and china yesterday. We had a few options for getting to Indonesia. One entailed a night in Seoul, Korea and,naturally, that's exactly what we decided to do. In fact in 2007 we started our Asian adventures here. Julia was just 7 and Hana was 10. Becky was with us since Jeff had to work. We thought about walking around the noble hood where we lived for a month but then decided we would rather spend our short day here in a Korean spa. We flew in late in the evening. The shuttle from our hotel picked us up in 10 minutes. After signing my name clerk said goodnight. It couldn't have been any easier! By 11 am we were at dragon hill spa and resort. We relaxed in the salt room, laying down on rocks, baked in one of the many hot ovens---complete with our spa outfit--got a brief massage and then Jeff and I split ways to our segregated bathing areas. I enjoyed two different kinds of dry sauna and then mixed it up with 6 or so hot tubs and cold spring water rinses. The final act for me was a body scrubbing and herbal hair treatment!!! The girls? They tried sweating it out in a couple different family rooms but opted for a korean lunch and karaoke. They had a blast. Jeff and I met up again,feeling cleaner and more relaxed than we have felt in months...years?... Seoul is truly an amazing place!!

Our final days

The students did a lot of touring while we were in Beijing. I'm sure that they have a lot of interesting pictures. Here are some final pics. I'm so grateful for this experience. I so enjoyed getting to know these amazing young people! They are all so unique and fun!

The fast train to bejing

Ok,the overnight train from xian to pingyao was fun but a bit tiring. After a short day in pingyao-- the site of the best preserved wall in china -- we were on a bullet train to Bejing. It was amazing! Obviously, there was time for fun!

Our final day in xian!

The treasure hunt

So proud of our students!

Amazing farewell dinner. You cannot imagine how talented the students were. What a great group!

Our visit to the Jiaoda schools!

What a fun and inspiring day!