Go Griffin Go! » Round-the-World

Finally back in the USA!

Dan — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:29:00 +0000

After 76 nights in hotels, hostels, and whatever other lodging we could find reasonably cheaply, we are finally back home. As fun as it is to travel, there is always something sweet about being home. Of course, we aren’t technically “home” since we are spending the rest of July visiting family in GA and PA.

Finally back in RDU!

Visiting my grandmother in GA

Visiting my family in GA

Playing the family’s favorite game — Euchre. Dan with Katie’s aunt Janice.

Lilly getting ready to chase a rabbit at Katie’s parents’ house.

Ubud — A Town of Art and Culture

Dan — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 06:38:39 +0000

For our last few days in Bali, we took the 45 minute ride to Ubud — a town known for being a haven for artists and performers. We visited “Monkey Forest” where monkeys come to eat bananas in droves, enjoyed peeking into a few of the hundred or so art studios, rented a small motorcycle to tour around the countryside, and even splurged on tickets to a dance performance at Ubud Palace.

Katie relaxing on the porch of our hotel in Ubud, Bali.

At a temple near our hotel in Ubud.

A woman walking down the street balancing wood on her head.

One of the art houses in Ubud — a city known for artists

Two monkeys enjoy bananas in Monkey Forest

Dan watches as a monkey eats some bananas

A baby monkey holds onto his mother

One monkey lets another monkey take a good look!

At Monkey Forest, monkeys are everywhere!

We stop for an ice cream while exploring outside of Ubud, Bali.

A woman most likely returning from her trip to the market

Rice fields on the side of the road

At the music and dance performance in Ubud

Beach walks and local customs

Dan — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 06:31:18 +0000

Sanur, Bali, Indonesia

One of the activities we enjoyed while in Bali was walking the mile or two from our hotel, through a local neighborhood, and down the boardwalk toward Sanur. It seemed that every time we did this, we stumbled upon something interesting — for example a Hindu religious ceremony, a guy making a boat, or any number of other interesting scenes.

One of the numerous Hindu offerings around the area in Bali.

The dividing line between the black sand and white sand beaches in Sanur, Bali.

A local artist spends the afternoon painting a beach scene.

Local fishing boats resting on the rocks above the ocean. This one even has some personality!

Cows use beach front property as a pasture for grazing outside of Sanur Beach, Bali.

A somewhat abandoned temple at the end of the black sand beach

A group of locals have a religious ceremony on the beach

A man carves bamboo to be used as material for building a boat

Kite Festival at Sanur Beach

Dan — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:11:14 +0000

Bali, Indonesia

One thing that we’ve discovered about traveling is that it is often more fun to stumble upon a local activity than to try to find something in particular from a guide book. One of these instances was the Kite Festival at Sanur Beach. During the week, we saw tons of kites being flown around the beach area (we counted 75) and we wondered what was going on. It turns out that people were practicing for the Kite Festival which was being held that weekend. So we made sure to find the details and come back on the weekend.

The Kite Festival was the definition of a “local activity.” Definitely not a tourist attraction, but a few thousand locals turning up for some traditional fun. The teams of anywhere from 10-20 or so, dressed in tradional clothing (checkered sarongs) flew homemade flags with their team names, banged on gongs, and had a great time. Some of the kites were so big, they had to bring them on big trucks! And they definitely aren’t flown with string — they use rope! We had such a fun afternoon, pretending to be local, and taking in the activities.

Big trucks are used to haul the enormous kites for the Kite Festival

Different teams await their turn at the Kite Festival in Sanur

One of the kite entrants — About 20 men and boys for a kite this size

The Kite Festival is a time to dress up in traditional clothing!

These kites are held with thick rope, not kitchen twine!

Another team prepares to launch their kite

Several kites of the same category all flying together.

On the black sand beach in Sanur, Bali.

Leaving the kite festival

A Much Needed Getaway

Dan and Katie — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 05:47:18 +0000

Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia

Okay, so I know you’re going to think this is crazy (since we are already on vacation), but we both were in need of a getaway. We’re becoming weary of traveling from city to city and country to country so we decided to go to a resort for a few days. We traveled to Jerejak Resort and Spa right off the coast of Georgetown so it wasn’t far at all. Luckily it didn’t break our budget at all – we got a hilltop chalet plus meals included for only $26 per person!

Katie dodges the rain on our way to Jerejak Island.

These small door-less cars were used for transport around the resort.

A very big lizard (at least 1 foot long) crawls across the grass at Jerejak.

One of the hotel staff teach us the game of Congkak.

Katie plays her round during a game of congkak — a traditional Malaysian game.

We spent several hours during our stay at Jerejak playing congkak.

What a catch! The food chain in action.

A very pretty flower on Jerejak Island.

Dan at Jerejak Resort near Georgetown, Malaysia.

Finally!!!

Katie — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 22:02:24 +0000

Here we go!

We’ve finally started to make real plans! What a relief! We’ve made plans to go out west (as Dan already said in a previous post), but the even bigger news is that we booked our ticket to go overseas! It has taken a lot of researching, reading, and planning, but we finally made a decision and went with it. Now we are ready for the fun stuff like finding where to stay and what to do/see. Our main stops will be New Zealand, Australia, and SE Asia. The best part is we feel like we got a really good deal.

New Zealand at half-price

Dan — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 00:25:52 +0000

New Zealand dollars are now worth just $.49 in USD

As I write this, the New Zealand Dollar is at .49 in US Dollars. That is the lowest since 2003 and down from .80 just a year ago (a decline of nearly 40%). As the dollar has continued to improve from its weak point a few months ago, our traveling dollar is now back to the strength of 2002.

The benefit here is tremendous. Since the daily cost of living in NZD is roughly equal to that of USD, it essentially means that Americans can visit and tour in New Zealand at half price!

For example, a rental car from Budget is listed at 34 NZD per day. About the same as what it would cost in USD here. But thanks to the exchange rate, that makes that rental car just $17 USD on my US-based credit card. An apartment that rents for 800 NZD per month in Christchurch would be just $400USD from my bank account!

For Katie and I, this means that not only are plane tickets to New Zealand the cheapest they have been in years (less than $1000 round-trip even from Charlotte), going there for a while could be incredibly cheap. Australia (while it has a higher cost of living than NZ) is also off about 30% from just a few months ago. Very tempting as we continue to plan.