Arrived in Jarkarta on March 10th. The smog was bad, worse than L.A. The traffic was definitely worse. There are lots of people (9 Million) crammed into a relatively small city (255 sq. mi.) and almost every one of them rides a scooter. Landfills are few and far between, with most people burning their trash. The rest is all over the place. Not much of a skyline and the infrastructure is crumbling. Now the good part. The people are very nice, friendly, and help...

Took the "fast boat" back from Gili to Bali. It was two hours of misery. The ocean was rough and the captain was determined to arrive according to schedule no matter how bone-jarring the ride. Of course my bladder was full and I had a case of Bali Belly as well. Was hustled upon arrival into an overloaded, no a/c van with six others and a ton of luggage for the hour drive to Ubud. My van mate, Diko, from Finland, who was sick with the flu, and I limped up the h...

Took an hour van ride to Padangbai to catch the "fast boat" to Gili Islands. The only way to describe the ride is "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" or maybe a San Francisco cab ride without the hills and then add thousands of motor scooters swirling around. No seat belts, no a/c, and the van was packed. I sat in the front seat and from now on I've decided that it's best not to see where you're going. I hope my dad isn't reading this... Gili is beautiful. Went on an all d...

Took a 2.5 hour flight to Denpasar, Bali on no-frills Air Asia. Met a couple of girls at the airport in Darwin and we shared a cab and room in Sanur. The first thing that you notice is the sheer number of scooters/motorcycles. There was at least 1,000 in the airport parking lot. Everyone rides them. Women, men, kids, grannies, and even whole families at once. They ride crazy and fast, beeping horns incessantly. Have not seen any accidents though. Bali is w...