Denver-Houston-Moscow-Singapore-Bali

I'm finally digging out from being away from home for too long! A few rainy days in a row have given me the time to get a little more organized.

So let's start the Journey Around the World to Indonesia at the beginning.

It took me about 36 hours to get from Denver to Bali - lots of connections and layovers are inevitable when you fly on award travel tickets. But I'll literally end up flying around the world on this trip, so that's kind of cool.

Moscow was an interesting airport, but our layover was short. By the time we got off the plane, went through security and got the to gate it was time to get back on board. I had a minute or two to gawk at some of the Russian dolls in the duty free store but nothing caught my eye.

The curious thing about this entire trip is the security process. Even though you were already on a plane and had been through security in at least one airport, they made you go through x-ray/metal detector inspections again every time you got off a plane. This was quite annoying since most regulations do not allow you carry water (liquids), so it was a major hassle trying to stay hydrated on so many long flights.

Singapore Airport was amazing! It was the cleanest, friendliest airport I've ever been to. Orchid gardens, koi ponds, places to lay down and sleep, an upscale shopping mall, free movies and free internet service in all the terminals. I've included a few photos of the airport here.

I finally reached Bali late in the evening (two days after I left Denver), and had an hour drive to Putri Ayu Cottages, located in the artist community of Ubud. I'm glad we stayed in Ubud instead of in the tourist hotels in Denpasar, even though our hot water and A/C were not the most reliable. We had a beautiful room that overlooked the rice fields in the residential area.

Each morning we watched the ducks as they were set free from their cages to do their job in the rice paddies. Apparently they help clean out the bugs and such - it was quite an interesting show!

The next morning we visited the local market where the vendors expect you to bargain, and always had a "morning price" just for you, so they could make a sale that would lead to success the rest of the day! They would take your cash and slap it on the items in their shop for good luck! I made a few good deals but did not hand carry some unique plates that ended up getting broken in transit.

Our guide in Bali brought us Indonesian treats each morning to sample. My travel companion Elly loved every bite since she was born and raised in Indonesia. I was somewhat adventureous and tried a few of the goodies, but I tended to stay away from those that were flourescent in color! Here's a sample of sweets made from rice and other local foods.

I'm thinking about creating either a slide show on a DVD or downloadable book from some of my world-wide photo adventures. Let me know if you would be interested in buying a copy!

Time to edit more photos so I can work on the next post!

Happy Travels!

Jan

Sparking the Creative Spirit

Posing with an Indian family at the "Baby Taj" in Agra, India

Thank Goodness for the spring! I'm finally waking up my creative spirit and hopefully will be better about postings from here on out. It's been way too long since I've shared photos and stories with you all and I have many excuses - mostly the overload of editing so bloody many photos and over committing myself to volunteer work!

I shot over 4000 digital photos in India. So how do I even come close to sharing the experience with you all without serious info overload?

Luckily - I recently took a class in Kaizen which teaches you how to take the smallest possible step to achieve your goals. I noticed very quickly that my small steps were pretty monumental to what was expected but hey, at least I'm out here trying to post something after the long winters night..... a nice hike in the foothills of Boulder and a full day of sunshine are quite motivating!

I'll try to take a subject at a time, or a photo at a time or a moment in time to share with you all - feedback from you will encourage me to post more often, so interaction is highly recommended if you want to see/hear more about India.

I recently had a few friends over to share their travel stories and photos. What a great night it was - we visited Croatia, Montenegro, Patagonia and India and had a fabulous gourmet meal with wine, over the course of about four hours .... I think we need to do this more often!

So - here's a post to spark some creative thinking and I'll be pondering about what to share next during my daily walks. If there is some place you are dying to see/hear about let me know. I realize I've been "bagging" a lot international locations but not sharing all the fun stories and photos from them with friends - so what's the point????

Help me out with some suggestions on what you want to see! If I haven't been there I'll let you know. BTW I'm currently planning a trip to Indonesia for a month with a friend who was born and raised there but never got to see the unique things about the area (venomous Komodo dragons, orphaned Orang-utans). Hence - this is one of the diversions that has kept me from posting - I was invited on the trip about a month or so ago and we are planning to leave in June - so much research .... so little time to finalize the itinerary.

Did you know Indonesia contains over 18,000 islands in the span of about 3,000 miles? UNBELIEVABLE!

Posing with school group near Agra - Copyright 2008 Jan Gorski

The coolest thing about India was the people. This is the first country I've ever visited where people (mostly young girls) came up to us and asked us to pose with them in their photos. Wouldn't it be amazing if some of the kids from this class saw their photos on the web?

Happy Travels!