Blue Dot Explore

April 28, 2023 on Selong Belanak Beach in Lombok, Indonesia The tourism campaign reads "Wonderful Indonesia", which you see printed in various places as you travel around, but I have to say, I don't know if wonderful even does it justice. I thought Java couldn't be beat, but it turns out Indonesia continued to be full of pleasant surprises. We only used Bali as a waypoint between Java and Lombok this time around because we had both been there before and were running short on time (you may remember the panic-buy of our exit flight that was required for us to get into Indonesia) and we wanted to make sure we had time to explore some new places. As much as we loved Bali, it does seem to get all the attention from most tourists, so it was nice to still feel a bit off the beaten path in selecting from the many non-Bali Indonesian options.  We did manage a stopover in Ubud, Bali, one of our favorite spots from our February 2020 trip. It was a nice reset to eat all the good ...

Singapore may end up holding the record for the shortest time we spend in one country, but when you're on a budget, it is not a place you can dally. The cost of everything was pretty comparable to D.C. prices (which is more doable if you have that thing called a J.O.B.) and was a massive change of pace from the other countries we've visited so far.  After extensive research, Johnny found us a queen bed in a mixed dorm room (top bunk) for about USD $60 a night, a big jump from our $15-$20 range for our private rooms with bath. This had to be the most eclectic hostel I've ever stayed at with a much more diverse crowd than the budget backpackers we often see in dorms. Included in this bunch was a very old Asian man who decided to do laundry at 3 am.  One thing that helped to stretch our funds were the famous hawkers, food markets with options around $5 -7. There are so many around the city and I was disappointed we were only able to visit a few within walking distance. We were...