March 17, 2012

The Finale

Now that our trip is over, and I've had the chance to relive it several times over while sifting through hundreds of photographs (really, 60 G's worth!), I'll summarize the last 2 weeks. After Cianjur, we took a winding bus ride through stunning tea plantations up to Bogor. A thriving metropolitan city filled with malls and trendy restaurants, Bogor is uniquely designed with a massive botanical gardens, placed smack in the centre of the city. After an afternoon filled with orchids and lily pads, we ate the most delicious, tender, white fish at a Chinese restaurant lit up with glowing red lanterns.

We completely bypassed Jakarta and flew straight back to Bali where we were greeted a second time by Aunty :) Staying at her place in Ubud, with a rice paddy steps away from the porch, was paradise. Especially so compared to some of the guesthouses we stayed at in Java! Then we filled our days walking through the rice fields, eating ice cream, catching up with the cousins, and experiencing a beautiful ceremony, following the Balinese to the temples where they assembled their colourful offerings and were blessed by priests. We visited the extra green fields in Jatiluwih, took goofy shots of us wearing tails and acting like monkeys, and went on the most pleasant bike ride possible--riding downhill the Mt. Batur volcano back to Ubud. And then one sunny afternoon, along a lush gorge, surrounded by rice fields, guests through flowers in the air, and my sister got married :)

Click here to see a slideshow of our adventure!