Oddly enough, this was one of the first times I’ve returned to Jakarta without dreading it.

Usually, as our plane breaks through the blanket of pollution protecting The Big Durian, it just puts a somber mood in the air to see the sun’s clarity disappear into a smog of acrid brown. This time, however, it was good to be ‘home’.

Three weeks in Bali was wonderful – perfectly relaxing, and yet, three weeks of living out of a suitcase does get a bit old. Don’t get me wrong – it’s not boring to be in Bali, and I’m not exactly pining to get back to work – it just wears on you being a tourist after a while. I think for the next holiday I’ll try something new – Perth, Australia, K.L., Bangkok, etc. (9 day break in April?).

I turned the rented Suzuki Karimum (shoebox on wheels) in with over 1000 km of wanderlust recorded on the odometer. Coincidentally, that’s almost exactly the distance from Jakarta to Bali. At only $10 a day (with insurance) I think we got our money’s worth. We managed to cover most of the island and still made time for doing . absolutely . nothing.

After considering the comment left last week regarding Garuada vs. Adam Air, I decided to cancel our tickets with A.A. and paid double the price to fly Garuda. Other than an incident with them changing the gate three times, things went smoothly – much better than our arrival.

—

Firing up the iMac last night, I finally had a chance to pour over the ridiculous amount of photos taken. The task of separating the crap from the stunners is daunting to say the least. I almost don’t know where to begin – posting random images or keep to a theme for each post, telling a bit of the background with a series?

Here’s one from Tampaksiring (water temple). A group of young women were enjoying a moment of relaxation before performing their part in a Hindu ceremony minutes later. It’s interesting to see “behind the curtain” so to speak.