One of my favorite things to do when traveling is to visit the local market. This may come as no surprise to our regular readers, as we’ve done a few pieces on it before (here, and here). The picture above was taken at the market in Pangururan. It has to be one of the [...]
Celebrating a birthday and eating a birthday cake are synonymous in my mind. Since we happened to be in the northern corner of Sumatra for my birthday this year, I figured that the chance of getting a proper birthday cake was close to nil. Well, chalk one up for the hussie. He found a [...]
No big deal – it’s just totally my birthday today. I woke this morning feeling a bit overwhelmed by the splendor of life. I guess that’s what birthdays are for, really. A day of reflection. A day to celebrate the passing of a year. And what a year! It’s a day to be [...]
Traveling together as a couple means that you spend 24 hours together every day. Hence, it is pretty hard to find the time to sneak away and buy inspired surprise birthday presents without your partner noticing. The solution was that Jaime got to pick her present herself. She decided that she wanted a hand-carved Batak [...]
I can’t help it. I have to tell the world about his place. Right now, northern Sumatra must be one of the best places in the world for a vacation. OK, so getting here might cost a bit. However, just consider some of the local prices: Lunch at an OK restaurant: 2-3 dollars [...]
Martin and I travel really well together, which doesn’t come as a big surprise – we met traveling. What does come as a (pleasant) surprise is how well he deals with the unexpected tanties I throw while on the road. As a married woman, I reserve the right to completely lose touch with reality [...]
Today, we had a swim in beautiful Lake Toba. The water was cool but not too frigid, and no monsters nipped at our toes. However, no manner of persuasion could convince our porcine friend to join in the fun. He later claimed that it was a case of ‘stage fright’. Yeah right, Bacon.
I spent two years (before leaving on this trip) working in a beige cubicle. I’m pretty sure most of the working world works in similar conditions. So, it comes with great happiness that my current office comes in every color of the rainbow. The resort we’re staying at has quieted down after the weekend, [...]
We were in a celebratory mood two nights ago and decided we would try staying out past our usual 10pm bedtime. The result: 1. One seriously bad photo shoot with our friend Dan 2. One giant waste of a day yesterday. We spent the entire day in bed watching season two of Mad Men (pretty [...]
The traditional houses around here are built in a very distinctive manner. According to one theory, the raised tips of the roof symbolizes the horns of a water buffalo. Today, while driving around Samosir island, we found a few prime examples of Batak architecture. Being supremely customer friendly, we have posted them here for [...]
The Batak people of northern Sumatra are well-known for a variety of handicrafts. Ulos Batak, or Batak Blankets, is one such handicraft. We were exploring the island by motorbike today and stopped at a tourist site which offered entry into a traditional Batak house. Inside we found the loom pictured above, which looked eerily similar [...]
Only the fact that you have to buy the whole animal alive has prevented us from enjoying this dish. The locals kept this little guy over the charcoals for a full day before they served it to a party of revelers. Our jealousy is palpable.
I went through most of my life believing that a tomato is a vegetable. It was, sadly, only recently that I learned that they actually belong to the fruit family. That being said, I think I’ve found the tomato’s “missing link”. This fruit is served to us in our daily fruit plate. It looks [...]
Indonesia is a big place. Huge, actually. It spans three time zones, is comprised of roughly 17,000 islands (only 6000 are inhabited) and has a coastline that is 54,716 km long. It is home to 255 million people. Over half this amount live on the island of Java, one the most populated places on the [...]
A Short History of Nearly Everything is Bill Bryson’s attempt to explain, well, nearly everything. Starting with the Big Bang theory and moving through time, the book pieces together the existing theories from various scientific disciplines into a digestible, easy to read guide of our world. I’m going to admit something here – I’m [...]
You know the saying, “to fly by the seat of your pants?” Well, that's been our philosophy for most of our adult lives – before and after meeting, falling in love and marrying. We're now taking that idea on an extended round-the-world trip. Follow us as we share the good, the bad and the downright nasty of life on the road.
