Aventuras De Viaje's Blog, page 26

Tegallalang Rice Terraces Review, Bali, Indonesia

This post is a Tegallalang Rice Terraces review.

Tegallalang Rice Terraces are located in the small town of Tegallalang which is about 7km north of Ubud in the interior of Bali in Indonesia.

This Tegallalang Rice Terraces review includes personal opinions and useful information including directions, pictures, costs, etc.

Right Picture: Taken on the ride in.

Featured Picture: People walking through the rice terraces.

For the quick version of this Tegallalang Rice Terraces review you can scroll to the bottom of this post and look in the reviews. Mine is the first one

Arjuna House 2 Review, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

This post is an Arjuna House 2 review. It may also be referred to as Arjuna Homestay Ubud.

Arjuna House 2 is simple home-stay accommodation in Ubud which is located inland on the island of Bali, Indonesia.

This Arjuna House 2 review (a.k.a. Arjuna Homestay Ubud, includes personal opinions and useful information including directions, pictures, costs, etc.

Right Picture: My Garden View. Those bamboo sticks are actually holding up scaffolding for the workers.

Featured Picture: Where I sat to eat breakfast, out the front of my room.

For the quick version of this Arjuna House 2 review you can scroll to the bottom of this post and look in the reviews. Mine is the first one

Pondok Satwa Homestay Review, Kuta, Bali, Indonesia

This post is a Pondok Satwa Homestay review.

Pondok Satwa Homestay is budget accommodation in the heart of Kuta on the island of Bali in Indonesia.

This Pondok Satwa Homestay review includes personal opinions and useful information including directions, pictures, costs, etc.

Right Picture: Balcony of the rooms.

Featured Picture: Front of Pondok Satwa Homestay.

For the quick version of this Pondok Satwa Homestay review you can scroll to the bottom of this post and look in the reviews. Mine is the first one

Bali Kuta Resort Review, Indonesia

This post is a Bali Kuta Resort review.

Bali Kuta Resort is (according to them) a 4 star hotel in the famous party town of Kuta in Bali, Indonesia.

This Bali Kuta Resort review includes personal opinions and useful information including directions, pictures, costs, etc.

Right Picture: One of the best showers I’ve had in a while. Great shower head and hot water.

Featured Picture: The pool at the Bali Kuta Resort.

For the quick version of this Bali Kuta Resort review you can scroll to the bottom of this post and look in the reviews. Mine is the first one

Foods of Bali, Indonesia

Discover mouth-watering foods of Bali including pictures, costs and other useful information as well as some (perhaps not so useful) personal ranting.

Whilst in-country it is an ongoing post which will be updated every few days. Sorry for the mess.

Right Picture:

Featured Picture:

Mouth-Watering Bali Foods

For my first few days in Bali I didn’t really try any new foods. I met friends there (for a wedding) so we ended up eating at a lot of bars and restaurants that was more western fare. When alone I did find a few little Warangs but the food, whilst delicious and dirt-cheap, is very similar to Malaysian food. Almost identical in fact.

After a few days my mates headed home and I stopped eating a the tourist orientated bars and restaurants and can across some stuff unique to Indonesia, and maybe even uniqique to just Bali itself.

As always, perhaps many of the foods on this list aren’t strictly Balinese, or even Indonesian, but they are what i ate during my time spend there.

1. Ayam Kaki Goreng

I’m just taking a stab at the Indonesian name for this, but it is pretty much Deep Fried Chicken Feet.

Whilst my mate was getting some ink done the lads at the shop there brought out this and also deep fried chicken skin as bar snacks.

I’ve had steamed chicken feet before (Chinese style) but never deep fried. At first I refused it because I though it would be to messy having to spit out all the little bones, but then I was informed that you just eat the bones. Have I been eating Chicken Feet wrong all these years? Or perhaps it is just because they are cooked differently.

Just learned that you should just eat the smaller bones instead of having to spit them out all the time. Haha.. 30 years of poorly done chicen feet eating!

Want to know all the best things to do in Bali? Get all the information on Bali and the rest of Indonesia that you need with arguably the best travel guide books on the planet.

Need somewhere to sleep while visiting Bali in Indonesia? Find your perfect accommodation no matter what your budget.

Love Balinese food? Try cooking your own with these authentic Balinese recipes.

Do you know of any other mouth-watering foods of Bali that should be on this list? We’d love to hear about them or anything else you want to say in the comments

Cool Things to do in Bali, Indonesia

Discover things to do in Bali, Indonesia.

Bali is an Indonesian island and is a very well known tourist destination.

This overview of things to do in Bali gives a short review of each of the “things to do” as well as links to more detailed reviews (where applicable) which include directions, pictures and other useful information.

Whilst in-country it is an ongoing post which will be updated every few days. Sorry for the mess.

Right Picture:

Featured Picture:

Things to do in Bali
1. Kuta

With its world class resorts and restaurants at a fraction of the price to the west (America, Australia, UK, etc.), amazing beaches, good shopping and enough to do for adults and kids alike it is no wonder that many Bali lovers go straight from the airport to Kuta and that is where they stay.

2. Markets

As in most of South East Asian tourist destinations, there is no shortage of market areas to walk through all over Bali. This one is in Ubud.

3. Tegallalang Rice Terraces

The first real bit of “sightseeing” I did in Bali was take a bicycle ride to Tegallalang Rice Terraces (from Ubud). They where fine. The ride around the villages was more the reason I did it.

4. Ubud Monkey Forest

On the way back from Tegallalang I decided to drop into the Monkey Forest before returning the bicycle. Originally I hadn’t planned on going to the Monkey Forest but I glad I did.

Need somewhere to sleep while visiting Bali in Indonesia? Find your perfect accommodation no matter what your budget.

Want more things to do during your visit to Bali? Get all the information on Bali and the rest of Indonesia you need with arguably the best guide-books on the planet.

Getting to Bali, Indonesia

Fly into Ngurah Rai International Airport, also known as Denpasar.

You can also arrive by boat or bus/boat from other cities in Indonesia.

Have you been to Bali before? Help out other readers and leave your tips on things to do in Bali (or anything else you want to say) in the comments

17 Day Bali Itinerary, Indonesia

This post is a summary of a 17 day Bali itinerary (Indonesia).

Whilst in-country it is an ongoing post which will be updated every few days. Sorry for the mess.

The last time I was in Bali was four or so years ago for a friends wedding. I didn’t do any exploring during my time there, but this time I will be… although the reason I came to Bali this time is also for a wedding of another good friend that I run a-muck with as a teenager.

17 Day Bali Itinerary”

Links will direct you to item specific posts.

Day One – 14 April

ITEM

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Day Two

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Day Three

ITEM

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DATEth MONTH

ITEM

PIC

Day Four

ITEM

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Day Five

ITEM

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Day Six

ITEM

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Need somewhere to sleep while visiting PLACE in the COUNTRY? Find your perfect accommodation no matter what your budget.

Day Seven

ITEM

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Day Eight

ITEM

PIC

Want to know more awesome things to do in PLACE? Get all the information on PLACE and the rest of COUTNRY that you need with arguably the best travel guide books on the planet.

CONCLUSION

What places would you add to your Philippines itinerary? Let us know or say anything else you want to say in the comments

20 Day Southern India Itinerary – Kochi to Chennai

This post is a summary of a 20 day Southern India itinerary.

About a year ago Air Asia had a big sale so I just bought tickets to places around Asia that I hadn’t been to before and had a good deal. My tickets to India where the last on the list. I bought them to fly into Kochi (because they where cheapest) and afterwards, considering how much time I had to spend there, I bought exit tickes from Chennai.

I semi-planned an nice relaxed itinerary, but as always, the plan never sticks. I ended up going through the first three quarters of my planned itinerary in less than a week! But it was fine because I got to chill a lot at the end and catch up on work.

Right Picture: Mahabalipuram.

Featured Picture: Auroville, near Puducherry.

20 Day Southern India Itinerary”

Links will direct you to item specific posts.

Day One

Arrive Kochi.

Sleep Backpackers Holidays Guesthouse.

Holi Festival. I got covered in pink powder. It took a few showers to get it completely off.

Day Two

Explore Kochi.

Sleep Four Seasons Hotel.

Fort Kochi Beach. There were people in the water, but I would/did not.

Day Three

Explore Kochi.

Overnight train to Madurai.

Train to Madurai.

Day Four

Meenakshi Amman Temple.

Sleep Hotel Boopathi.

Meenakshi Amman Temple.

Day Five

Gandhi Museum.

Thirumalai Palace.

Overnight Bus to Punducherry.

Gandhi’s letter to Adolf Hitler.

Day Six

Sleep Hotel Sarvamangalam Inn.

Inside Hotel Sarvmangalam.

Need somewhere to sleep while visiting Southern India? Find your perfect accommodation no matter what your budget.

Day Seven

Self Guided walking tour of Puducherry.

Sleep Mothers Guesthouse.

Joan of Arc Park in Puducherry.

Day Eight

Auroville.

Arikamedu Ruins Ruins.

Botanical Gardens.

Sleep Mothers Guesthouse.

Puducherry Botanical Gardens. The “Fun Train” station. 5INR for kids,10INR for adults.

Day Nine

Go to Mamallapuram.

Sleep Vinodhara Guesthouse.

The beach at Mamallapurum.

Day Ten

Sleep Vinodhara Guesthouse.

View from the balcony. of Vinodhara Guesthouse.

Day Eleven

Sleep Uma Residency.

Five Rathas on Mamallapurum.

Day Twelve

Mahabalipuram.

Five Rathas.

Shore Temple.

Sleep Uma Residency.

Shore Temple.

Day Thirteen

Eagle Temple.

Sleep Uma Residency.

View from the top of Eagle Temple.

Day Fourteen

Go to Chennai.

Check out the hostpital.

Sleep Samrat Guesthouse.

Gandhi on Chennai Beach.

Day Fifteen

Get Master Health Check, Sri Ramachandra Medical Center.

Sleep Samrat Guesthouse.

Sri Ramachandra Medical Center.

Day Sixteen

Chill.

Sleep Samrat Guesthouse.

Day Seventeen 11

Go into town.

Sleep Samrat Guesthouse.

Day Eighteen 12

Walk around general area.

Sleep Samrat Guesthouse.

Day Nineteen 13

Chill.

Sleep Samrat Guesthouse.

Day Twenty 14

Chennai to Bali.

Want to know more awesome things to do in Southern India? Get all the information on Southern India and the rest of India that you need with arguably the best travel guide books on the planet.

I only had three weeks in India this time round and although there is still a lot to explore I think I got a good feel for it.

It is one of the few places where people instantly know I am a tourist, which I must say, I do not like much. I would not want to live here, but I will definitely be getting my 6 month tourist visa (in a year or so) and explore the rest of the amazing country.

What places would you add to your Southern India itinerary? Let us know or say anything else you want to say in the comments

21 Must Try Foods of Southern India

Discover 21 must try foods of Southern India including pictures, costs and other useful information as well as some (perhaps not so useful) personal ranting.

Right Picture: Mushroom Fry (#19).

Featured Picture: South Indian Meals (#18)

21 Must Try Foods of Southern India

Not all of the following are necessarily foods unique to Southern India, but they are a selection of foods I ate while on traveling through Southern India.

1. Kerala Poratta

I have a feeling that Poratta is all over India (a 99.999999% sure feeling) but this is Korela Poratta. Not sure what the difference is between this and plain.

Lots of other different breads which I have with other meals but dont give each one their own listing. There is too many and they are all delicious!

Kerala Poratta.

2. Oothaappam

Onion and tomato on Indian bread, with a little side of vegetarian curry.

Oothaappam. Simple and delicious.

3. Lassi

A yoghurt type drink that comes in a range of flavors. Obviously I got mango cause I love it.

Mango flavoured Lassi, a yoghurt based drink.

4. Biryani

Biryani is one of the more well known Indian dishes. Probably because it tastes awesome. I ate it a lot during my time in India.

Beef Biryani from a food stall inside the mall. With the drink (lime juice) cost was 200IDR.

Underneath that rice is an explosion of meat and flavors.

Vegetable Biryani from a local restaurant. 30IDR.

Unlike China or the Philippines, it’s very easy to be a vegetarian in India.

5. Tandori Chicken Noodles

Fried noodles is more or less the same where-ever you go. Each country has their own little twist. This was pretty damn good. Not oily (unlike Malaysia), and not too salty (unlike the Philippines.) Maybe it would be a little spicy for some. It was just on the edge for me, but I was very happy with it.

Chao Mian with tandoori chicken… amazing!

6. Kurma

I saw a sign that said “Today’s Special, Carrot Kurma and Banana Kurma”, so I got one of each.

They are sweet. Pretty much like carrot or banana cake depending on the flavor you get.

Unexpectedly sweet.

Want to know all the best things to do in Southern India? Get all the information on India you need with arguably the best travel guide books on the planet.

7. Samosa

A classic Indian snack.

Samosa’s in India are not the triangle shape I am used to, but they taste fantastic.

8. Dosai

This particular one is Butter Masala Dosai. I got it because I knew I had to catch the overnight bus that night (from Madurai to Pondicherry) and I figured it would not be spicy, i.e., I didn’t want my stomach playing funny buggers on me during the bus ride. I was wrong, it was spicy, because everything in India is spicy. Luckily my stomach was fine.

Hotter than I expected it to be. Pretty good though.

9. Jigarthanda

Whilst eating my Dosai I noticed some other customers drinking this drink, which looked nice so I got one. It was very good. Kind of like caramel. Afterwards I started seeing them for sale everywhere.

This one, from an air-conditioned restaurant, cost 50INR, but on the street they were as low as 20INR.

Jigarthanda plays a little bit of awesomeness on your tastebus.

10. Dum Briyani

I’ve put this separate from the Briyani because it is Dum Biryani. The difference being in the way it is cooked. According to Alps Mo’s answer in Quora…

“In a normal Chicken Biryani, the meat is separately fried and added whereas in dum biryani the entire rice,meat, potatoes cooked by the steam and pressure. Thus Fried chicken biryani will be more oily and spicy, and dum will be more flavourful .”

Chicken Dum Biryani.

Need somewhere to sleep while visiting Southern India? Find your perfect accommodation no matter what your budget.

11. Fried Rice

Another classic Chinese dish made with the Indian way. I liked it.

12. Chicken Gravy

This is one of those times where I saw what someone else was eating, pinted at it and said “give me that”. The guy serving told me it was chicken gravy (i.e. chicken in gravy). I am sure it has a special Indian name. Whatever it is called, it was amazing.

Chicken gravy. This was one of my favorites.

13. Ginger Drinks

All over southern India, from Kerala to Chennai, I saw signs for fresh ginger juice, soda, etc. This one pictured is obviously bought from a shop. I did try the fresh made ones also. Very good, but (not surprisingly) very gingery.

Not surprisingly, very gingery.

14. Mushroom Manjurian

I had no idea what this was going to be when I ordered it, apart from having mushrooms, but I was very happy with it. Absolutely amazing. Also comes in different “flavors”, i.e., replace the word mushroom with a different main ingredient.

Possibly my favorite on this list.

15. Mattar Mushroom

This is similiar to the Mushroom Manjurian, and you can get different versions of it also, i.e., not mushroom. Personally I like the Manjurian better but this was still pretty good.

The bread I have here is kuboos.

Mushrooms are one of my favorite foods, although I used to really dislike them as a child.

16. Nanari Juice

I have no idea what Nanari is but it tasted pretty good. Maybe is is kind of like honey.

I have no idea what Nanari is, but the taste was acceptable.

Love Southern Indian food? Try cooking your own with these authentic Southern Indian recipes.

17. Appachi Special Parotta

Anything menu item that has the word special in it I tend to get drawn to. I thought Appachi might have been the name of a local dialect or something, and maybe this dish was their own take on Parotta. As it turns out Appachi was just the name of the restaurant, but the meal was pretty special. They kind of just piled everything onto it. The parotta underneath was crispy. This was a good meal.

When I ordered this I was worried it wasn’t going to be enough. I was wrong about that.

18. South Indian Meals

I had seen “Indian Meals” on many menus but that was all they said. No description of what types of meals where available. One day, in Mamallapuram, I tried to order something off a menu but they said the only thing available was South Indian Meals, so I said okay. Before I could ask what the choices where the waiter was gone.

As it turns out the “s” on the end of “meals” is just a grammatical error that all Indian restaurants (at least all the ones that I have been to) make, unless the different sauces/curries that comes with the rice are each considered a separate meal, which actually sounds pretty plausible.

South Indian Meals.

19. Alu Gobi

As I was easting this I distinctly remember thinking, “wow, I haven’t eaten cauliflower in a really long time, but it tastes great!”. This meal tasted amazing.

Someone told me Gobi was cheese. I guess his English was off-mark. Gobi is cauliflower.

For the next two days after this I had bad stomach cramps and put myself on a modified BRAT diet (bananas, rice, apple sauce and toast). I don’t blame this one meal. I think the onslaught of Indian spices that I had been eating every day finally conquered my stomach. It needed a couple of days off.

20. Gobi 65

After my medical in Sri Ramachandra I decided to do a full day fast before getting back on the Indian food. I also started myself on a new “meal plan”.

I had seen this “65” dish in many places (chicken, gobi, etc.) so decided to try it out. Turns out is Cauliflower (assuming you get Gobi) coated in some type of red breadcrumbs and then deep fried.

From mushroom to cauliflower.

21. Mushroom Fry

Another dish that I commonly saw was “Fry” which , like the 65, could be chicken, gobi, etc. This was a tad on the spicy side but pretty nice. A bit oily though.

and then back to mushrooms.

Mushroom fry was the last of the Indian foods I tried. I wanted to give myself at least 24 hours of “plain foods” before having to move on (to Bali).

I enjoyed trying the different South Indian foods, even though my stomach couldn’t handle it after a while. Maybe it’s a little too flavoursome for me, especially after coming from the relatively bland Filipino Foods.

One thing I really enjoyed was that it was very vegetarian friendly. And their breads are just amazing. Eating with my hands got some getting used to but by the end of it I found it kind of fun, although I still prefer cutlery or chopsticks.

Do you know of any other delicious Southern Indian foods that should be on this list? We’d love to hear about them or anything else you want to say in the comments

Samrat Guesthouse Review, Chennai, India

This post is a Samrat Guesthouse review.

Samrat Guesthouse is budget to mid-range accommodation about an hours bus ride west of Fort Chennai, Chennai, India.

This Samrat Guesthouse review includes personal opinions and useful information including directions, pictures, costs, etc.

Right Picture: I didn’t really do much while in Chennai. The main reason for me going (besides flying out of there) was to get a medical. I did go into town once but other than that did not do any specific “sight-seeing”, which is why the only thing I got was this picture of the Gandhi statue in front of the beach.

Featured Picture: From the front of the Samrat Guesthouse.

For the quick version of this Samrat Guesthouse review you can scroll to the bottom of this post and look in the reviews. Mine is the first one