Indonesia

Every winter our school has a six week winter break, partly because they can't afford to heat the school throughout the long winter months, and partly because of Ch!nese New Year. We have been told by people who have lived in our area for many years that you should try and get out of the country at least once a year, just to get away from the stresses of living here and help regain perspective. So taking all that into consideration Amanda, a teammate, and I decided to go somewhere warm for a few weeks. Between the two of us we had contacts on three different islands in Indonesia so off we went. Just getting to the first island was an adventure that took three days and involved trains, planes, taxis, and a ferry!

LOMBOK

Waiting for the ferry that would take us to Lombok. It was several hours before we knew if it was even going to run that day, it was rainy season so the ocean was a little rough, but it eventually came and we made it to our destination!

Trying coconut milk

A beach where we spent a night and went snorkeling

This guy was our companion one night as we were walking along the beach, he was pretty friendly and quite helpful when he stopped us from stepping on a sea serpent.

They may not look like much but these were the first sandwiches we had had in over six months, so we were pretty excited!

In Lombok there's a place called Monkey Forest, it's just a spot on the side of the road where a lot of monkeys hang out and you can feed them. They're definitely not shy and will just come up and take the food right out of your hand, and as long as you stay away from the babies they're pretty friendly.

Thanks again Carder's for a great time in Lombok!!

JAVA

One of the things Java is famous for, besides coffee of course, is its ancient Hindu and Buddhist temples. This is the Buddhist temple that was built in the 8th century, later abandoned and then rediscovered around 1815 and restored.

Hindu temple 

At a coffee plantation

Hiking through some rice paddies

Dyed chickens, why you ask, because they think it is pretty and people will buy them and keep them as pets.

KALIMANTAN

The city we visited in Kalimantan sits on the river so for a lot of the people that is where life still happens. They live in houses built on stilts over the river, they bathe and wash clothes in the river, and a lot of them still get their livelihood from the river.

Standing on the equator!