Eat (pray love) Your Heart Out, Ms. Gilbert: My six-week jaunt across Sulawesi, Java, Lombok and, yes, Bali

Thanks to my school's exam schedule and generous Christmas vacation, I had most of December and half of January off. I spent the time traveling around Indonesia with ETA friends--from my home island, Sulawesi, to the mountains of East Java, to the temples and nightclubs of Bali, to the beaches of Lombok, and home again. I hope these photos will tell the story more interestingly than I can. 

First stop: Pantai Bira, a small beach town in South Sulawesi.

Brandon and Thomas with a shark some very proud fishermen showed off to us.

An enormous ship being built on the beach (and now that Sulawesi's rainy season has started with full force, I understand the ark-building impulse.)

Next stop: Mount Bromo in East Java. It has been erupting off-and-on since November, so we were warned against traveling there, but the guys "called an audible," and we did it anyway. And we were lucky: We hiked it on Saturday...on Sunday it erupted.

This expression is meant to say: "Really? You made me wake up at 3 am, climb two hours up a mountain in the darkness, and now you can't even get one good photo of me? Really??"

 

Probolinggo, a town not far from Bromo, where I got excited by the number of people riding bicycles (your work is done, Dad) and the disconcertingly litter-free streets.

Next stop: the Ijen Plateau, East Java, home of coffee plantations and what has to be one of the most stunning volcanic craters in the world.

Mini-hike (my family would call it a "hik") to a waterfall near our hotel.

Waking up for another crack-of-dawn volcano-climb was hard--so JT and Brandon got us going with an impromptu dance party.

After an hour of hiking up Mt. Ijen, this sight emerged from the mist.  But it's not just beautiful--it's an industry. Every day, about 300 men mine bright yellow sulphur with their hands and carry 70 kg baskets of it out of the crater and down the mountain.

All Thomas (an econ major) could say every time a short, scrawny man carrying a load of sulphur passed us was "The labor! The labor!"

There was a sign that said "Tourists are forbidden from walking down into the crater." So of course, we ignored it.

Next stop: Malang, a pleasant little city in East Java.

Even in mostly-Muslim Indo, tacky Christmas decorations can be found.

And this is how we spent Christmas Day: eight long hours in a series of buses traveling from Malang to the easternmost tip of Java. I will not complain...but I will say that the Wise Men probably had an easier time getting to baby Jesus.

Next stop: Baluran National Park, East Java.
 

In Baluran we went on a jeep tour and saw deer, birds and tons and tons of monkeys.

We read an online review of Baluran National Park that said "If I'd known about Baluran, I'd never have gone to Africa!"

Next stop: Ubud, Bali, a town that has become wildly popular since Elizabeth Gilbert lived here for four months in the Pray section of "Eat Pray Love."

The first thing I noticed in Ubud was all the bules. The second thing was the Starbucks. If you're a shameless bule like me, you can sit on the Starbucks' deck, sipping a latte and enjoying the view onto this lovely Hindu temple.

Our first dinner in a nice Western restaurant since leaving the US. We were like Tarzan emerging from the jungle.

Ubud is the artistic center of Bali--this is pop art for sale by the side of the main road.

Next stop: Kuta, Bali, a trashy, rowdy town full of drunk surfer dudes--imagine the Jersey Shore, but with Australians.

Letting loose, Australian-style, on New Year's Eve.

We spent a day getting swept away by the tide, and yelled at by a lifeguard, at Seminyak Beach.

Ulu Watu, a sacred cliff-top Hindu temple outside Kuta--pretty awe-inspiring (as long as you ignore the monkeys trying to steal your water bottle).

To enter the sacred grounds of the temple, everyone must wear sarongs.

Hindu worshippers entering the temple with offerings.

Next stop: back to Ubud for a final Bali-hurrah.

Roast suckling pig is a traditional Balinese dish. Thanks to Thomas and Nicole's boldness, we observed the behind-the-scenes action at one of Ubud's best restaurants.

Balinese boy playing with wayang kulit, traditional shadow puppets, in the pig restuarant.

We watched a legong, Balinese dance, performance, and this is the part I liked best: Three Stooges-esque comic relief.

Of the many Hindu temples we explored in Bali, this one--draped with trees and empty of both tourists and monkeys--was my favorite.

Next stop: Kuta, Lombok (the complete opposite of Kuta, Bali). Mostly free of tourists, with remote, smack-you-in-the-face-gorgeous beaches.

Mawi Beach--worth the hour-long motorcycle ride that ended with our bikes getting stuck in the mud.

A second beach discovery we made on motorcycles.

Another view of Mawi Beach.

At a restaurant overlooking Kuta Bay. (Those grins say: "My God, I can't believe how lucky we are to be here.")