Jul
02
2009

Still Alive

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Another one of my useless “Still Alive posts….but unfortunately its all I have time for!

I have just spent the last 8+ days in a remote part of Flores and Solor living in a tiny village with the family of my new friends….very excited about writing about it, but haven’t had electricity (or time) in the last week.

I left there and went to a tiny whale hunting village where I went out with the fishermen in a small boat harpoon hunting for whales and sharks……yes, it was as crazy as it sounds.

In 3 years of travel, it was honestly the most genuine, and embedded experience I’ve ever had.

Sitting here back in good old Maumere and waiting on an airplane to Sulawesi where hopefully I’ll have a connection and be able to share the last 2 weeks with everyone.

Thanks for being patient!

Greg

May there always be a road


Posted in Indonesia |
Jun
17
2009

The best birthday

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I sat comfortably on the bamboo platform beneath my two-story local style bungalow updating my journal and listening to the sounds of the waves smacking the rocks just a few meters below me.  I could smell a cooking fire somewhere in the distance and tiny boats from the local village bobbed on the water trying to catch dinner.

Something got my attention.  The snapping of a dry branch, a flash of brown movement, or maybe just instinct.  I glanced up and nearly fell off my perch….

Standing just 30 feet away in the forest that backs up to my bungalow were three naked men.

(Read more…)


Posted in Indonesia |
Jun
13
2009

Back to Indonesia

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Every budget traveler, from every geographical location, has a local bus horror story to share. Sometimes several.  We’ve all done our time.  The stories are so ubiquitous that no one wants to hear them anymore.  I’ve personally sat on boxes of onions for 10 hours (Laos), watched kids poop in the aisle between the seats (China), and even did my best to stifle a laugh as someone’s expensive pet bird broke out on a long ride and flew around the bus causing a panic (Thailand).

So, it didn’t surprise me when my 12 hour minibus from East Timor back to Kupang in Indonesia was about as much fun as getting your teeth filed to points.  The $20 bus ticket had a seat number, but sure enough we stopped only 30 minutes into the bumpy ride to pick up a man who had the same seat number as me - which means of course that we got to share one bucket seat for the duration.
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Posted in Indonesia |
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