Indonesia: Overview of My Adventures and Itinerary

Indonesia is a country with more than 17,000 islands. It is among the best known tourist and vacation destination in the Southeast Asia. It is known for its beaches, surfing spots, Komodo dragons, and volcanoes. Here is my itinerary of my trip here.

Don’t forget that Indonesia has the most active volcanoes in the world and that is around 150. I only got to see two out of 150, imagine!

Before I elaborate on my trip in Indonesia, I’m going to share my trip itinerary with you:

• Day 1-6: Bali – Ubud
• Day 7-8: East Java
• Day 9-10: Lombok – Gili Island
• Day 11-14: Flores – Komodo Island – Padar Island – Rinca Island (Komodo Adventure Tours)
• Day 15-16: Return to Bali for flight to Manila, Philippines

I was in Indonesia for 16 days (March 29 – April 14, 2015). I had a blast during my time there. The people there were mostly friendly and would help the stranded tourists as best as they can.

Bali – Ubud, Indonesia

Besides the arrival day, I spent 4 full days in Bali and  most of the time I went out and met people on beaches.

I actually met a group of travelers from Spain, Germany, Slovakia, Ireland and the Unites States (Georgia). They were friendly and invited me to go surfing with them in one of beaches in Bali.

That was only on my second day, but they were awesome and fun! I surely had a challenge learning how to surf on the waves. I had many wipe outs, but I did ride a few waves though.

Rest of my time in Bali was with the group. I pretty much carried my iPad most of the time and communicated with most of them on my iPad. I even got drunk at a bar and had gibberish conversations with some of them in iPad.

We all went to Tegalalang Rice Terrace and captured stunning pictures of their rice paddies on the slopes across the valley and its landscape.

Good times… Good times…

Besides, I got to mention that I met an awesome girl who graduated from Harvard. She was one of most remarkable person I met in my travels. She was like a genius to me but we had an endless conversation when we met.

Mostly we were into learning the difference between Deaf culture and the American “hearing” culture. She was mostly interested with what we do in Deaf culture and she would keep asking me about sign language. After we spilt up in our trip, we actually stayed in touch for a while. I’m glad I met her.

Other than that, I spent a day in Ubud to check out the famous Monkey Forest and tasted Luwak coffee.

Then I improvised with a bus ride from Ubung Terminal in Ubud to East Java.

East Java, Indonesia

My trip to East Java was all about the volcanos. I checked out two of the most famous volcanos in east Java.

I rode the bus from Ubud to Probolinggo for around 10 hours to visit the Mount Bromo, the most active volcano with a gorgeous sunrise.

Honest with you, I kind of rushed through my trip in East Java, so I pretty much hopped on the next bus to Banyuwangi where I found a tour office to arrange a trip to Kawah Ijen to face the blue flames and witness the largest acid lake in the world.

I bumped into three travelers while going on a tour to Kawah Ijen and we end up tagging together for a trip all way to Lombok via Bali.

Lombok – Gili Island, Indonesia

As soon as we all arrived to Lombok, three of us realized that each of us had different plans in mind. We split up from there and I briefly stayed in Lombok. Then I took an all-nighter bus and then boated to Gili Island where I decided to give myself some time off from all of the adventures I had previously.

Unexpectedly, I met this guy who owned Komodo Adventure Tours and then he invited me to an island hopping tour for 3 nights and 4 days.

After coming to a good deal, I grabbed an all-nighter ferry from Gili Island to Flores to catch the boat for the tour on the same day.

Hectic, I know!

Flores – Komodo Island – Padar Island – Rinca Island (Komodo Adventure Tours)

Besides the volcanos I visited earlier in this trip, this is my personal favorite part of the whole Indonesia trip and I’m glad I wrapped up the whole trip with this tour.

In this tour, I pretty much went full-time on boat for 3 nights and 4 days.

Yes, I slept and ate on the boat along with plenty of trekking, swimming and snorkeling. Read more about my experience with Komodo Adventure Tours here.

Return to Bali for flight to Manila, Philippines

I ended my trip in Indonesia with a bus ride for an whole day and half from Flores to Bali. The ride was so long, but worth it. It gave me nice break from the Internet. I spent most of my time reflecting on the whole trip in Indonesia. It was so good.

I’ll definitely come back again soon!

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