http://jacob.hoffman-andrews.com/geeks-errant Two webheads explore the big longitudes Thu, 20 Aug 2009 06:54:42 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en After an epic overnight climbing Mt. Agung and a boneshaking scooter ride back to Ubud and a bleary-eyed visit to the Ubud Palace for Barong dancing, it was time to leave Indonesia behind. Roxane and I loved it, and we're planning to come back before we finish our travels. Our overnight ... http://jacob.hoffman-andrews.com/geeks-errant/index.php/2009/08/08/korea/ 37.5630995 126.9205144 On the way from Makassar to Bali, I looked out the window of the plane and gasped.  We were rounding the shoulder of a massive, nearly perfect conical volcano.  It felt within touching distance, and its summit was not far below our cruising altitude.  It was ringed at its feet ... http://jacob.hoffman-andrews.com/geeks-errant/index.php/2009/07/15/climbing-gunung-agung/ -8.339545512905634 115.49853801727295 When we arrived in Ubud, one of the first things we did was to rent scooters. A month ago, when we were first here we hired a driver named Komang along with whom we got very well. We told him offhand that we'd be traveling Indonesia for about a month ... http://jacob.hoffman-andrews.com/geeks-errant/index.php/2009/06/27/out-and-about-ubud/ -8.5154763939202 115.2591347694397 We first stayed in Ubud on our arrival in Indonesia, and loved it.  So we were excited to arrive here again on our way back from Gili. We even stayed at the same hotel, Ubud Terraces. When we arrived we met Tracy, a friend from San Francisco whom we arranged to ... http://jacob.hoffman-andrews.com/geeks-errant/index.php/2009/06/17/live-in-ubud/ -8.515481699200327 115.2591347694397 West of Lombok is a string of three tiny islands, each maybe a kilometer and a half long. Gili Air is the easternmost one, and the scene is balanced between Gili Trawangan, where ravers pop party pills all night, and Gili Meno, where you are better advised to pop malaria ... http://jacob.hoffman-andrews.com/geeks-errant/index.php/2009/06/08/gili-air/ -8.353926976346923 116.08660697937012 The bus trip to Makassar was long and winding, and our driver was a passionate, conflicted man.  He could never decide which he loved more, the gas pedal or the brake.  Fortunately there was a conductor on the bus, and he was well-prepared for the chronic nausea that resulted. He ... http://jacob.hoffman-andrews.com/geeks-errant/index.php/2009/06/08/padangbai/ -8.530403569370323 115.51067233085632 The night before we were set to start trekking, it rained buckets.  Not your run of the mill buckets, but big sheep-dipping buckets.  Buckets you might use to put out a forest fire.  All night it poured, and in the morning it was still going. But right in line with ... http://jacob.hoffman-andrews.com/geeks-errant/index.php/2009/06/07/tana-toraja-mud-trekking/ -2.9814416783174855 119.893798828125 In Central Sulawesi, high in the mountains, is Tana Toraja, the remote enclave of the Torajan culture. Probably originating in Indochina, these people arrived here hundreds of years ago and started building their houses in the shape of boats, ostensibly to remind them of the boats that brought them there, ... http://jacob.hoffman-andrews.com/geeks-errant/index.php/2009/06/01/tana-toraja-land-of-the-boat-shaped-house/ -2.9814416783174855 119.893798828125 Roxane and I came to North Sulawesi to learn how to scuba dive. We showed up in Manado, recently host to the World Oceans Conference, and spent the night in a tidy but windowless room at Hotel Celebes. By way of contrast, breakfast was served on the glassed-in sixth floor, ... http://jacob.hoffman-andrews.com/geeks-errant/index.php/2009/05/28/learning-to-dive-in-sulawesi/ 1.5749664142187212 124.80331420898438 After Krakatau we returned to Jakarta for a couple days. We checked off the last tourist sites on our list of things to do in the "big durian." First was Kota, the old town centre in the north, with many Dutch colonial buildings. On the way there we passed a ... http://jacob.hoffman-andrews.com/geeks-errant/index.php/2009/05/23/jakarta-the-second-time/ -6.187488737210719 106.82766437530518