Amed, Bali

The next morning we didn’t have to rush since our pick up was only at 11 am. We ate breakfast, went to buy snacks and get money from the ATM. The bus ride took about 2,5 hours to Amed. The scenary was nice, local villages, rice paddies and mountains.

In Amed we instantly took a time out and went to sit down in this restaurant with wifi (of course) and to eat. Steve went to wander to find a place while I stayed with our bags. After a long while he came back, we took the bags and went to see the place together. NICE little cottage! Lovely decoration inside and out. Loved it! We got it for 200 000/ night. Reception woman was really nice and helpful. The whole hotel area was nice and relaxed with hammocks etc. The fridge was open, whatever you took you just wrote it down to this booklet thing and paid everything after.

After settling down we went to our black beach. The sea was a little rough but we still went for a swim before the sun set behind this active volcano. Amed itself was tiny, only small local village with only local family restaurants and couple of diving places. Our first full day in Amed we just chilled on the beach and drank beer. The next day we went to buy tickets to Gili Trawangan for the next day for a fast boat 225 000 each. Then Steve rented a bike and I walked while he rode to Jemeluk to snorkel. It was only a 20-minute walk away. We took sunbeds, left our stuff and hit the water. Even tho really close to beach we could see all sorts and colors of fishes! Bright blue ones and all! After eating and chilling Steve left for a bike ride but shortly after came back since the chain had broken.. He went to return the bike and eventually didn’t have to pay anything. They hadn’t made any paper work or anything and it wasn’t his fault. And he even got a scratch on his belly.

Later on basically by accident we went to this restaurant on the beach to catch the sunset. Didn’t eat there tho since it was a little too expensive for us. We went back to eat at Warung Ole which seemed to be full every night! 

Ubud, Bali

The next day was only swimming pool day and little shopping (couple of vests for Steve). We decided to stay four nights mostly because of our lovely pool and that it was so peaceful in there. The last day wasn’t too different to the previous one. We gave another chance to the beach but soon after pictures we headed back to our home base. The close by streets became familiar since we walked around them at nights. After the last night, we woke up early to check out and go to eat something more than just a pancake. We had seen in couple of places advertising shuttle buses to Ubud for 60 000 so we went to ask for timetables.. We booked one for 1 o’clock so we had almost two more hours by the pool!

The minibus picked up other people almost an hour but the trip itself was only like an hour and a half or so.. The bus dropped us of not in the center so we had to walk on the Monkey Forest road. It wasn’t too far tho! We went to check couple of hotels but weren’t impressed with their pools at all! On the third one we settled to pay 175 000 night so we just took it. We arrived in Ubud around 4 o’clock and went to eat and walked to the center and tourist info. We bought tickets to this local Kedac dance show and went to watch that at 7pm. It wasn’t anything too special but nice experience. On the way back we really struggled to find ANY cheap places to eat!

The next morning in Ubud we woke up and ate by far the best breakfast so far! We could choose from 5 different options like jaffles, pancakes etc and also 5 options for drinks. After eating we walked 5 minutes to Monkey Forest sanctuary paying 30 000 each to get in. The forest is a home to over 600 monkeys and couple of temples. After a while of wondering we got bored pretty fast. It was time to catch some more food and go trekking to the famous rice paddies. 

The track was this 90 minutes round trek. Tho first we had to walk to the start which was a bit further away. On the way we saw this hippie woman with a dress on and literally boobs hanging out! :D The first 3 km of the trek was nice! We stopped to have a coconut drinks at the rice paddies. Just when we were setting of again we saw a sign saying Ubud 6km.. We decided to go that way anyway. Soon the rice paddies changed into forest and just boring roads. Exhausting walk it ended up being! So all in all this 90 minute walk was closer to 3 hours and 12 km! Obviously we rewarded ourselves with a large Bintang and a Radler. After showers we headed back out again to buy tickets for this shuttle bus to Amed. The cheapest ones were around 150 000 each.

On the market street in Ubud we went to buy couple of more vests for a price of 50 000, not 180 000 like this one woman was trying to sell! :D Food, some UFC on TV and to bed was our night. 

Kuta Beach, Bali

The drive was surprisingly long and took closer to four hours. Others booked their hotel on the bus but we thought that it was too expensive.. Arriving to this big parking lot with like 10 taxi drivers helping us out from the minivan.. We quickly made a plan to avoid  them.. We walked from the parking lot and quite fast after wandering a while we took a blue bird taxi to Poppieslane 2 paying 20 000 BT the meter.

First hotel that we went to check out was a match! NICE swimming pool, breakfast, wifi and we paid 150 000 a night! First impression of the place around us was BUSY as fuck. Scooters on the pavements, everyone trying to sell you something or offer a transportation.. We went to eat at this near by local palce and noticed that we can eat and drink cheap if we wish so. Cheapest beer was a big Bintang for 25 000.

It was time to go check out the famous surfer's paradise, Kuta Beach. It took us patience both to walk there and walk on the beach... People trying to sell stuff or asking us if we wanted to surf. So annoying. The beach was okey, nothing special except massive waves. Didn't spend more than 10 minutes on the beach and headed back for an evening swim.

At night the streets woke up with loud music and Aussies. No matter what day it was there was still a party. We took the first night easy wandering the streets. We got offered probably every single drug that there is on the planet by so many times!!

The next morning it was a banana pancake time (read breakfast) aaaaanndd swimming pool time!! We didn't really do much else all day than chill by the pool drinkind Radler and beer and watch this Aussie guy's one man show entertaining every one (or so he thought). In the evening we went to Sky Garden to catch up with the Belgium girls and Ben. It was close by to ours and next to this memorial monument for Bali Bombing on 2002 killing over 200 people and wounding over 200... :(

So what made me really happy was that there were security check up and loads of guards there. We paid 100 000 each in for all inclusive food and drinks. Our hopes weren't that high for the food but it was really nice! BBQ, salads, burgers, desserts, San Miguel or couple of different coctails which were so strong!

We got in around 18.30 and it was until 21.00 that you could drink.. Those strong cocktails didn’t need that much time. We had a really good time chatting to people and drinking! After 21.00 o’clock it was time to head downstairs for the dance floor. Oh, and by the way the toilets were so nice and clean! Cushioned toilet doors, tv’s inside, couches etc.. On the dance floor Steve literally almost cuddled with this guy who used to play in NRL. Quite soon it was time to head to another club next door, Engine Room. We had really good time also in there (at least what I can remember..) Dancing and we even put this limbo competition on. At around 00.00 am when we changed place I head to sleep and Steve and the others continued.. Steve got back at 6.00 without answering his phone or anything… I was really worried about him since he was so drunk already when I left! 

Ijen Krater

At 00.30 we woke up, went to eat breakfast (a toast and an egg) and left to drive towards Ijen Krater. Only a short 45 minutes drive away we got to the place where the hike started. Andi was our tour guide.

It was a three or four kilometre trek UPHILL! In the middle of the night! I hated every second of that up hill walk! My knee hurt, i was tired and just hated it! The higher we got we started to smell this eggy smell of spulphur. I was gagging all the time.

At the top we waited for Andi for ages to get masks from him! From the crater we started to descent down into the crater with this narrow rocky path in pitch black. It took ages and many careful steps towards the blue fire. On the way down so many people coming up said that it wasn't worth it. The smell got stronger and stronger and my eyes were stinging and Steve wasn't feeling good at all, really anxious. We decided to turn back up. When our group got back up later their pics were not good at all. So we didn't really miss out on anything.

We got to see the work men in action carrying sulphur up on their shoulders weighing 50-80 kilos. Up the rocky paths they went and so so fast with terrible shoes hoping not to step on loose stones. Up from the crater to the villages and back twice a day..

When we started to walk back in a day light we could see how steep the mountain really was!! Ridiculous. I could have laid down and I woulda been standing up...

After surviving down from the volcano we asked our driver to stop somewhere for breakfast. Well, we were all so tired so we fell asleep and woke up when he announced that we were at the harbour.. No breakfast, no waterfall, coffee plantation (tho we stopped once since this girl needed to pee and he said on the right is coffee plantation.. xD).. At the ferry terminal we were the only ones the driver bought tickets to.. Good thing we had asked to write everything down.. The ferry ticket was only 7500 so not much but still!

We basically walked straight to the ferry (after the fight with the driver). The boat left instantly and took around 30-40 minutes. We had decided to head towards the Kuta Beach as had everyone else also. So we started haggling the prices down from private cars.. The prices they offered for us at the bus terminal both for private and public ones were ridiculous.

Eventually we got the deal down to 600 000 for all of us (7?) to Kuta, not Denpasar..

Island hopping summary

Almost one month travelling alone in Greece and in seven different islands! I'm so glad I did it! For a long time I had wanted to go to Greece to do some island hopping and seeing new places! Now that I was studying again and had purchased the international student card I thought it's also gonna be cheaper.. It only was but because of my old greek student card.. Only a few ferry companies accept the international card! I was a bit nervous if im gonna be lonely or have nothing to do but oh my! I was almost busy the whole time meeting new people etc..! Also just before I left from Finland the phone companies changed their roaming things and I had free internet the whole time, that also helped me a lot!

All in all I spent a little over 1000€ for the whole trip without the flights! I think travelling alone for one month it's okey amount of money.. I could have done it a lot cheaper but I was on a holiday after all! Traveling with someone of course saves you money cause now I had to pay all the hotels alone and not share it with anyone.. Also the sunbeds I always had to pay alone, those small things add up.

Here are some new greek words I learned:

• Aroga
• Kolokitokeftedes
• Stokos
• Pi hi for example
• Malakismeni
• Mpegleri

Κωραλι πετροκόραλο και πετροκοραλάκι

Ο παππας ο παχυς έφαγε παχυά φακη γιατι παππα παχη έφαγες παχυα φακη 

Μια πάπια μα ποια πάπια μια πάπια με παπία

Άσπρη πέτρα ξέξασπρη κι απ τον ήλιο ξεξασπρότερη

My trip definitely made me miss Greece even more now! To the next time my other home! <3

Last days in Athens..

The boat trip from Koufonissia to Athens went quite fast even tho it took almost five hours. I didn't have anyone checking my ticket so I ended up saving in boat tickets all in all almost 120€ during my travels on the islands. For a single traveller that's quite a lot. Or to anyone for that matter.

At Pireus I headed straight to metro and to Dafni's place in my old neighborhood in Pangkrati. Me, Dafni and her boyfriend listened to his music and drank wine that Dafni's dad had made until like 2 o'clock.

The next morning we took it easy and I left to wander in Athens and catch up with Athina. Can't actually really even remember what we did during the afternoon! Normal Athens stuff! <3 At night me, Dafni and Constanine walked to this bar called five spots or something and met Athina also there! Nice evening!

On a Tuesday morning me and Dafni were supposed to leave to pick up our friend Giannis (from Larissa) from the bus station. It ended up being just me picking him up and on the way to Attiki metro station I also helped out this 20-year-old girl from Hong Kong who was travelling alone for the first time and lied to his parents that she would be in Taiwan not in Europe.. It was really nice to see Giannis after four years and we went to Egaleo to the Sheep place to eat gyros! Athina came there later on and then we headed to Athina's place to hang out and after to center and I went to Dafni's to shower. We met later on on the small rocks of Akropolis in front of the cinema for beers. Then headed to Irish Pub, to bar called the Clumsies and the last one was Barrett or something like that at Kolokotroni. I walked home to Dafni's and Giannis kai Athina took a taxi to Egaleo. It took my around 25 minutes to walk from Monastiraki to Pangkrati. Love it so much as a city of millions of people can we so quiet and calm during the night! Empty streets. I was at home around 3 am.

The next day was my last day of my trip! So we had promised to get up early not to waste any of it. My alarm rang already at 9 am and I packed my stuff and went to shower. Dafni surprised me with coming with me to the tattoo studio with Viktoria, Athina and Giannis! He hang out there for a while and then left for a coffee and later to the Sheep to eat.

At the supermarket I bought Frappe and Ouzo to bring home and then me and Giannis continued our way to wander in the center. Went to Six Dogs for coffee and then in Psirri to play some tavli! Which I ended up winning 5-1!! :P

After we met Athina and she had broken up with his bf. :/ Went to pick up some lights for her work and then to ger place for showers and play Buzz in greek! 3rd place in the game! ;) Not last and didn't really understand a thing.. After we went to Egaleo again to eat and then said Ta leme.. :'(

Headed to Dafni's to get my stuff and then left for the bus stop in front of Hilton. Paid 6€ for the ticket and actually got a little nervous if I would even make it to the baggage drop.. The flight left at 2 am and baggage drop closed at 1.15.. I was at the desk 1.07! :P I then basically walked through the security straight to the boarding and into the plane.I arrived to cold Helsinki at 5.30 am and took a taxi home.. :( 

Hello Koufonissia!

The next morning, I woke up at 10am and left towards to boat at 10.30 while Athina still stayed for a while cause her boat to Athens was only at 15.30. My boat was 20 minutes late but only took around an hour to get to Koufonissia. On the boat the guy how checked my ticket didn’t believe my student card and forced me to pay the rest of the ticket (12€). Annoying.

I arrived at the port at 12.30 and there where many people with the signs saying they were full or the ones who weren’t asked from 50-80€.. Eventually I found one for 30€ in Foinikas beach and I think the place was called the same. :D I went to eat at their restaurant but it was such a chaos in there and this weird self-service so I got pissed up and walked away.. 

There were paths by the water to walk next to the beach so I decided to go wander. Already around the corner there was another place called Fanos where I stayed to eat. After that was Italida Beach and then I just continued walking and walking across different beaches. None of the beaches had sunbeds (I understood they were not allowed since they wanted to keep the island unique). I had read that the furthest away beach was called Pori. All of a sudden, I was already there and so surprised! Nice views but tiny island! I had walked the whole way without even noticing. On the way, back I stopped at this Piscine Caves place with a natural swimming pool. There were a lot of Italian people on the island as well as Greeks.

After seeing most places I had read that I had to see I decided to only stay one night even tho I had planned to  stay 2 nights before heading to Athens. Since I was tired from staying up late (or early..) I slept two hours nap. Forced myself up and walked less than 15 minutes to the Chora. Stopped to watch sunset at the place called To Kyma. It was less than 15 minutes inside the village to walk it very slowly from one side to another. On the way back I bought ferry ticket for the next day paying 29.50€ with the student discount (same boat as the previous day and to Athens it was 4 hours and 50 minutes). Also stopped to eat at this one place and ordered Kolokuthokeftetes in Greek :P Then went to Sorokos bar by the sea to try Rakomelo which was apparently very famous in there. Then headed home to sleep.

In the morning I went to pay for my room and then it was just chilling by the beach, beach bar and the rocks. Then headed for the boat at 16.15 towards Athens.