Viva Hoy, Viva lo Tuyo

DUN-DUN-DUN.

The future. In some ways it sounds so ominous, and I suppose it could feel that way without any exciting moments on the horizon. Luckily for me, the next few months of my future will be full of such moments, and therefore thinking about the future, right now, gives me a sense of anticipation, and a promise of fulfillment.

I'll tell you why.

This post will be short and sweet, since I've already monopolized your attention with my last two extra-full posts about Australia and Indonesia. I just want to take the opportunity to explain where I'm at in my life, and to document the moment so I can look back and say, "I remember that time."

Today is Thursday. On Sunday, mi querida Mama and I are flying away to Costa Rica for a (in her case well-deserved) tropical vacation. We'll be there together for about two weeks, exploring the trails, forests, waterfalls, and hot springs around Volcán Arenal (near the town of La Fortuna) and Monteverde. We'll spend Christmas in a cloud forest, and then a couple days later Mama will return to Colorado and leave me behind. I'll spend a week seeing more of Costa Rica and visiting some wonderful friends there, and then right after the new year I'll be starting my six-month stint of research as a volunteer with Cloudbridge.

This is something I've been looking forward to for quite a while, for various reasons. It will finally be getting me back in the field doing conservation work, which I've felt has been quite lacking from the last year of my life. I'll be based in a part of Costa Rica I've never seen before, nestled right next to the mountainous Chirripó National Park. And I'll gain experience and produce my own research, which will be a good stepping stone and resume builder looking ahead into grad school.

Yes, I said grad school. I've finally had enough shenanigans around the world to feel ready to dig into my studies again, though I have yet to pinpoint where and what for. With so much information and so many different schools to wade through, starting the grad school search was a bit overwhelming, but I'm making progress and finding a few programs I like right here in Colorado. Being so close to family, friends, and the mountains certainly wouldn't go amiss, but only time will tell if it's truly the right option. Besides, I have some forests to explore between now and then :)

Pura vida, mates, and happy holidays to everyone!

The travels didn't stop with Australia - next up was Indonesia for three and half weeks. This was my first trip to anywhere in Asia, and while I was excited to see what there was to see, I realized I didn't quite know what to expect. Crazy traffic? Lots of trash? Lots of rice?

As it turned out, there was some of that and a whole lot more. The Indonesian people are probably the thing that most impressed me - they are unfailingly friendly and do everything with a smile. In most of the places we went, someone spoke passable English, and so communicating wasn't generally a problem. If it was, we could always practice our charades skills, or use a calculator to barter for a price.

We started our trip in Bali, which is a stand-out for its culture and the beautiful countryside it shares with its fellow islands. As the pictures below will show, Bali has no shortage of temples and statues and offerings, evidence of the strength of its Hindu religion. It's an area of high tourist traffic, so the streets were generally clean and there was a good variety of food on offer. Further away from main tourist centers, the effort to impress and cater to foreigners diminished.

Traffic seemed chaotic, with motorbikes whizzing every which way and swerving around larger vehicles on the narrow streets. However, the more we observed, the more clear it became that there some unspoken rules of the road, namely honk for everything. Honk to say "I'm passing you." Honk to say hi. Honk to say "go ahead, pass me." Honk because someone just cut you off, but only when you were an inch away from slamming into their bumper. But these aren't the angry five-second honks you might hear in New York; they're more like little chirps. A form of communication, rather than aggression.

The food was delicious, for the first week and a half. By then, I think we'd exhausted every single option on every menu and had to start repeating dishes. When you're eating out for every meal because you have no access to a kitchen, then mie gorgeng (fried noodles) and nasi goreng (fried rice) and lots of other things goreng (fried) start to get old very quickly. Few dishes offered veggies, and salads were hit or miss. Let's just say I was ecstatic to come home and eat some Mexican food and vegetables.

There's probably a lot more to say about the trip, but it's difficult to do, or to put into context, without the help of my trusty photos again. So, let's explore the rest of Indonesia visually (this post is even longer than the last one...sorry):

The Indonesian currency is the Rupiah, and its value is roughly 12,000 Rp to every 1 USD. So while this fan of money makes me look like a millionaire (finally!), it's really only a couple hundred bucks. However, it's fun to pretend.

Welcome to Bali! We arrived at our homestay in the dark of night, and the next morning we woke up to this :)

The first of many Balinese temples we saw. In Ubud, the first city we went to, temples like this are almost more numerous than houses.

One of the many beautifully carved statues we passed on the street.

A rice paddy in the middle of the city. Efficient use of space, I suppose!

At the Sacred Monkey Forest in Ubud. The little guy really wanted that bottle.

They're twins.

The Dragon Bridge.

The "sacred" in the Sacred Monkey Forest.

"Give me that necklace!"

I found my calling: monkey whisperer.

After spending a day in Ubud, we decided to go to Amed, on the east coast of Bali, to get our scuba diving certificates with Eco-Dive Bali (which was amazing, by the way!). This is a view from the road in.

For the three days of our course, we went diving in the mornings but had the late afternoons for explore on the motorbikes we rented. We could either follow the fun winding coastal road, or head inland up valleys like this

Mt Agung, a volcano, looms over the road to Amed. Remember this volcano. We see it again later.

Amed, from our breakfast table.

The courtyard of our homestay. I think homestay just means that the family who runs the property also lives there. But we were able to find beautiful places like this for cheap! Here we paid 150,000 Rp, which is $12.50, for two people for one night. So we each paid $6.25 and even got free breakfast. Winning.

The view of Mt Agung, on our way to dive in the wreck of the USAT Liberty in Tulamben.

The beach in Amed where we started out diving, with Mt Agung shyly hiding behind the clouds.

A traditional Indonesian boat used for diving, fishing, and whatever else you might want to do on the water. We dove from one like this on our second day.

Waiting to take the fast boat from Amed to the Gili Islands, off the coast of Lombok. Look at them just carrying those heavy suitcases on their heads!

Gili Air, off the coast of Lombok. In fact, the mountains in the distance are on the island of Lombok. So close I can almost touch it...

Volcano rice.

And this is what you do on the Gili Islands.

The view towards Lombok.

Hello, cuteness.

There's Mt Agung again in the distance.

Air = water. But this is really just the name of the island. Ironically, however, the entire island is so flat and so close to sea level that when the sea levels rise, this will eventually be completely underwater and gone. So maybe Gili Air (Water Island) is a prophetic name.

We took one of these boats across to the mainland of Lombok.

Local transportation on Gili Air, since motorized anythings aren't allowed.

Waterfall #1 in Senaru, Lombok. We went to this town to climb Mt Rinjani, another (big) volcano. As it turned out, we had no option other than going with a guided tour which left the next morning, so we had the afternoon to explore the attractions of the little mountain town, namely the waterfalls.

Waterfall #2 in Senaru. Standing where I took the picture, I was already soaked from all the spray. Good thing I have a waterproof camera :)

Day 1 of our three-day trek up and across Mt Rinjani and its crater. I was supposed to summit on my birthday. But Mother Nature had other plans...

In hindsight, maybe this was foreshadowing what would come?

Our porters and their baskets.

Yup, now you get it. That's kinda a big fire. Should we keep going? Guide says the boss says yes, so we go. This is where it gets crazy.

Behind us: green.

In front of us: black and smoky. This patch was burning just a few minutes before we walked through it. Since most of the vegetation is just dry grass, the fire moves along very quickly and won't come back to burn that area again, since there's no more easy fuel.

Waiting for the fire in front of us to move on so we could keep climbing.

Oh wait, it's behind us too? The guide said this wouldn't happen....

The fire in relation to our camp.

Yup, it's really time to go down now.

Oddly fascinated by the beauty and the danger.

Watching the volcano burn from our campsite at a safe distance downhill.

So this is what I did for my birthday instead: surfing! Near Kuta, on the south coast of Lombok.

This is what the south coast is known for.

Now back to Bali: Pura Besakih, the Mother Temple, one of the most important for all Hindus in Indonesia. If the clouds weren't in the way, we'd see Mt Agung towering in the background, but the opposite side than we saw before in Amed. Oh, well. (For the record, my camera was still not focusing properly so I know these pictures are blurry around the edges but I had to make do.)

It was the day before the big full moon festival, so preparations were under way.

A rare moment with no one on the main temple stairs. You would almost think we were there alone.

The good spirits on your left as you climb the stairs.

And the evil spirits on your right. Everything in the Balinese Hindu religion is about balance between the good and the evil, so every temple includes them both.

From the top of the temple stairs.

Gamelan orchestra set up in preparation for the festival.

Old roofs (the brown in the center of the photo) vs new ones (the black).

Typical daily Balinese offerings, to appease and balance the good and evil gods.

The black-and-white pattern on this statue's sarong is also an expression of balance. Almost every temple guardian has something similar.

After leaving the temple, we made the spur-of-the-moment decision to go rafting, which was fun, though not at all like our river here. We passed so many terraces like this one (this is the view from above our take-out).

A small bar in Padangbai with a surprisingly good local band.

Another beautiful homestay, also $12.50.

A luwak, the animal responsible for "the most expensive coffee in the world." He eats ripe coffee cherries and poops out the coffee beans unprocessed, which are then collected, cleaned, roasted and ground like normal coffee. This process gives the coffee a much more intense flavor! I wonder who first discovered this fact...

Pura (Temple) Tanah Lot, on the south coast of Bali.

Early-morning "trekking" (aka wildlife stroll) in West Bali/Bali Barat National Park.

A ficus tree.

Amazing tendrils from a ficus tree.

A mangrove at low tide.

Fiddler crab.

Going snorkeling in West Bali NP.

So. Many. Fish. (and I love my waterproof camera.)

Found Nemo.

A silvery trumpetfish is hard to spot.

My new fishy friend who swam with me for a little while. I love his colors.

Jagged clam.

Now on the island of Java: Small-town mosque on the way to Kawah Ijen, another volcano known for its blue fire.

So impressed by everyone's gardens!

Playing volleyball with some surprisingly good local kids!

Blue fire inside the crater of Kawah Ijen, Java. It's caused by the venting of super hot sulfuric gas and the interaction of that gas with the surrounding air, which burns blue in the heat from the vent. What a cool phenomenon!

Pipe system for harvesting sulfur from inside the crater. Liquid sulfur runs from the vent (where the blue fire is) down the pipes to drip and solidifies at the bottom. Sulfur miners break up big chunks of it and carry it out in baskets on their shoulders. I don't know how they stand the smell.

The crater of Kawah Ijen.

A miner heading down with his load of sulfur.

That sulfuric gas must've gone to my head.

Another traditional boat.

There were probably fifteen people in the bed of this truck on top of a whole lotta peanuts.

Stunning sunrise at Mt Bromo, another volcano on Java.

Well, no wonder we couldn't see anything.

Walking to the crater.

Shoes outside a mosque for midday prayer in Yogyakarta, Java.

Making batik in Yogyakarta.

Sunrise over Mt Merapi and Borobudur Temple, which was hiding in the fog.

Paparazzi.

The poor guy just wanted to smoke his morning cigarette, and then this happened.

Borobudur Temple, the largest Buddhist structure in the world.

There are nine levels, and apparently if you walk around them all you reach nirvana. I'm not sure if that ever possible now, since they're always doing restoration work somewhere.