INDO: Part 1

Kuta, Bali

-We arrived into Denpassar on the 23rd of November not knowing what really to expect...We mannaged to meet up at the Airport in Bali and get our 30 day Visas. Off to a good start! 

-Next, we caught a $5 cab ride to quaint little hotel called Senen Beach Inn on Legian St. in the heart of Kuta, Bali. This is more or less where we set up our home base in Indo: Cheap food, moto bikes, boards for rent, nice little rooms, and just down the street, traditional balinese massages for only $6 an hour AWESOME!!!

Our quiet garden in the middle of Krazy Kuta, Senen Beach Inn

-We spent a few days in Krazy Kuta on our own before we met up with Kevin "the Kaptan" Gallager and Alan "Blangan" Mangan right around Thanksgiving. Man were we happy to see some familiar faces! They had been on a serious adventure through SE Asia the past month and just flew in from Bangkok.

Lookin' alive and well after the dark jungles of Cambodia and Laos!

-We had a nice Thanksgiving Dinner with our Canadian friend Chris at some litttle resturant in Bali. It was good but nothing really compares to an American Thanksgiving feast. We spent the remainder of the evening drinking 21,500 rupih tall boys of Anker purchased at the local mini marts and watching the young Austrailian Kids get super drunk/rowdy. OH to be 18 again.

-After a little more time in Krazy Kuta dealing motor bike agreements and purchasing boards we were off to our next stop, the southern peninsula of Bali. We hopped on our $2.50/a day motor bikes and road off with our boards at our side and our bags on our backs for the first time. 

A sweet statue on the way to Uluwatu

ULUWATU

-OMFG driving here is so terrifing!!! Brian made it about 1/2 a block and crashed into a wall. Here we go!! So we cruised south in a serious Mad Max looking convoy of 4 through some of the craziest fraffic on the craziest roads we have ever been on. An hour later we made it to Uluwatu and found a nice little place to stay called Windro Accomadations run by a lovely little lady named Putu. She let us rent her 'penthouse' room with 3 beds for only $15usd or 150,000 rupiah a night Dank! We unpacked and went to check out the legendary Uluwatu where people were getting their serious barrels on!!

 

The infamous Uluwatu: our first evening

-Kevin, Alan and myself grabbed some Bintangs, posted up on the cliff to watch the sunset and Sam tear it up on some waves. This must be the place!

 Sammy catchin' a little ride right at sunset

-The next morning I awoke to a beautiful sunrise and managed to swoop a banger Time Lapse!

Our first morning at Putu's: from the balcony!

-later that morning everyone but Kevin decided to trek it back to Denpassar to get our liscenses. Kevin went for the gamble to not get one and bribe the Polisi if we had any encounters with them. The rest of us were not too stoked on that idea so we were off to the bowels of Denpassar. 

-What we thought would be a 1 hour event turned into a total nightmare that took over 3 hours in the middle of the sweltering heat. We got lost in the streets of Denpassar looking for the police station and once we had just about givin up and killed each other, it appeared out of nowhere. This was just the start of the madness. 

-Long story short we ended up going through a series of 10 steps to get our licenses. We did everything from paying off random people, taking a driving test, taking our finger prints and taking our blood presure to testing if we were color blind. After $25 and a little heat stroke, we got our one month temporary tourist liscense. Never want to do that again!! On the way back we got lost again and inhaled enough exhaust to kill a small child. This started the initial stage of Brian's sickness that he would battle with for the next 3 or so days.

-While on the southern peninsula we surfed the breaks of Blangan and Uluwatu... the breaks are all mostly lefts and are known to barrel really hard when the right swells come in.

-One of the evenings Putu took us to the temple of Uluwatu which is built on the cliffside. Since she lives there she got us in for free and gaves us sarongs to wear so we didnt have to buy them.

'Hey guys!!....your sarong's are showing!"

The sunset temple dance

The crew with one of the Temple Goddess's

-The temple is SICK and we watched the dance/performance at sunset and wandered around battling off the super agrressvie little monkeys who won't hesitate to take your sandals/camera/sunglasses or anything they can get their hands on. Brain had his tripod to smack them away so we all followed his lead. 

-After another day of sessioning Uluwatu we decided to make the trek to the island of Lombok the next morning. 

KUTA, LOMBOK

-After a 4 1/2 ferry ride and a 2 1/2 hour scooter ride on either end of the ferry we arrived in Kuta, Lombok. A much smaller island that is not nearly as touristy as Bali but is becoming more and more developed everyday. 

Brain, rollin' into Kuta, Lombok

-We spent around 8 days in Kuta, Lombok staying at the Mandalika Homestay which was $10 a night per room and included banana pancakes and tea in the morning. 

The cleaner of the two Kuta's in Indonesia: Kuta, Lombok

-The Scenery is really beautiful and the surf was really fun. We surfed the likes of Mawi and Grupiak. 

Our first night: makes us feel like we're in Apocalypse Now!

Brian with his quiver: 6'10 semi-gun and a 6'4 PHISH!

-Grupiak was made up of two breaks, Inside and Outside. Both of which required a small boat ride to get to. 

The boat was a traditional Indonesion skiff made from a hollowed out tree with bamboo poles on either side to balance it as it cut through the waves. 

Heading into battle at Grupiak Outside!

-We had a lot of fun in Kuta, Lombok. We became friends with some of the local guys (Dio and Harry Potter) that some how always seemed to be having the time of their life: Surfing, partying, talking with girls, dancing, singing and everything inbetween. 

-They took us on a day trip to some of the waterfalls on the island. There were several we hiked to and played in all day. 

Chilling at the 'waterfall of the Gods'

Alan swoopin' the follow cam off the 10 meter falls!

-One afternoon Alan and I (Brian) attempted to trek up a steep bluff and got about 1/8 of the way up before we were stuck on a almost vertical pitch tangled in bushes and thorns over an inch long.... when out of nowhere a local man wearing no shoes, shirt or really any clothes at all hacked us free with his small machete! He then proceeded with no guidance from us to clear a path all the way to the top. 

VERY TREACHEROUS and VERY CHUXX!!! 

The 'MAN'...enough said!

-By the time we reached it, there was already a clearing he made for us to sit and set up tripods. Let the time lapses begin!

How the hell are we gonna get down from here?!

-We ate pretty much all of our meals at a local spot called Warang Jawa 2 which offered everything on their menus for a $1.50/15000 rupiah or less and was owned by the smoothie master who sold all of his smoothies for .50cents. Sooooo good!!!

After eating way too much one night it was Sam's turn to battle the Bali Belly that took him out for days.

-On the 12th it was time to head back to Bali for Kevin and Alan's flight on the 14th.....their journey was coming to an end:(

UBUD, BALI

-On their last full day in Indonesia, we scootered up to the village/super crazy marketplace of Ubud!

An example of some terraced rice fields on the way to Ubud

-It was puking rain on us but we all needed to swoop some gifts to send home for our families!

-The market was full of the craziest stuff around....from lavish soaps, beautiful silver jewelry, lovely sarongs to weird creepy masks, cool blowguns, sketchy daggers and of course gourmet Luwak (poop) coffee!

Geared up with our gifts and ready to call it a day!

-After a full afternoon of perusing the markets, it was time to head back, get some massages and chill with our friends on their last night abroad!......Thanks Kev and Al it was SUPER CHUXX!!!!

WE LOVE YOU ALL AND THANKS FOR READING!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

AmsterDAMED: onward thru the fog!!

On to the next chapter... Amsterdam! 

-After being separated for a little less than a week, we managed to meet up at the Stay-Okay Hostel in Vondel Park and get our feet/Bicycles under us.

-Our first stop?....the grocery store to get the European essentials....Cheese, Bread and Bier! We were amazed at how tasty, flavorful and potent the Dutch and Belgian biers were.

-Stop number 2 was more or less an almost endless journey through the fog! Locals told us it was the foggiest they had seen the city in almost 20 years...making it extremely easy to get lost in the city, especially after having some Belgian trippels and hitting a coffee shop or two! The fog managed to settle for the remainder of our stay, making the wonderful city that much more magical.

Why is everything so cool?!

-On our second day we took our first daytime bike ride through the city.

Cars, bikes, trams and massive steeds roaming the narrow streets

Biking through the fog, keep on your toes or you could get hit by a bus!

-Later we met up with Sam's Brazilian homies, David and Daniel who traveled with him from Barcelona. We took a short stroll in Vondel Park and then headed over to the Van Gogh Museum. 

-It was a surreal experience being able to stand a few feet from his masterpiece, the detail of which left us at a loss for words! Brain of course had to break the rules and sketckily took some photos and video with his GoPro in his sleeve, prompting a security guard to keep a close eye on him toward the end of our tour; luckily she never figured out what he was up too!

Chuxxsters chillin' in Vondel Park

-That evening curiosity got the best of us as we meandered toward the Red Light District, but not without getting totally lost once again on the way! We made it there only because a mysterious local, who went by the name 'el presidente', came up from behind us in the fog and guided us there via his bicycle. He gave us the low down on the inner-workings of the city and vanished into the fog as quickly as he appeared!

-On Day 3 we met up with Thomas, whom Brain met in Costa Rica a year earlier, we spent the day inside keeping warm and catching up over many cups of Coffee.

Kicking it at the Doors Coffee shop with Thomas 

A little cappuccino to warm the soul 

-That evening we spent biking around, getting a few photos/time lapses and discussing life with fellow American Bob Jones, a native american Vietnam vet from Oklahoma who there as a judge for the annual cannabis cup which takes place inside the city.

A frame of the Time Lapse we took in the town square

When in Rome?

OH MY GOD!!!....The Pastries!!!

- Our time was short and we saw a lot, but we most certainly didn't get our fill, especially of the pastries!

One of the many tasty baked treats that we indulged in 

-THANKS AMSTERDAM!!!..... A city that most definitely exceeded our expectations!!

-Next stop....INDONESIA!

WE LOVE YOU ALL AND THANKS FOR READING!!!

Spain- The Best of Both Worlds

SAM

Living the vida loca en Barcelona:

-I don't even know where to start... What an amazing city! I was enchanted with the city by day and engulfed in the party by night.

-I stumbled in to the Kabul hostel which was full of fellow young travelers ready for a good time and a good time it was!

-By day I was a sightseeing, biking machine. I rented a bike and hit the city like it was my job! I went all over the place covering what felt like hundreds of miles. As I biked around every corner I discovered new places to explore, from the crazy architecture to the incredible cathedrals there was always something that caught my eye. Although I covered some serious ground there are still so many amazing places I need to go back and see.

The sprawl of Barcelona



-By night it was a serious party with the Kabul hostel folk, I made friends with people from all over the world; Brazil, Australia, Canada, South Korea and Pakistan to name a few.



Shots!Shots!Shots!

 



Partied out in the 24 mixed dorm....Keep those valuables close!







 

-Here are a few photos that  I'll let do the talking.



Looking out over the port





Another amazing castle!





All sorts of goodies in the meat market!



Running into some more dank architecture!



Nice stroll through the park



Sunset over Barcelona



-Much love to all my friends from Kabul and thanks for the good times! Don't forget about me Brazilians 2014 is on! O and to all you Aussies I just maybe making my way there in a few months so keep your eyes and ears open for me.



Some of the Hostel Kabul Krew





BRIAN

Alicante, Spain:

-After staying up all night in Lisboa and franticly searching for an open petrol station in the wee hours of the morning, we managed to make it to the airport to return our car in time to catch our flights!



-My journey to the south of Spain consisted of sitting around the Madrid airport, but the sunset I witnessed from the plane was unbelievably RAD! and totally worth the 6+ hour layover.



Gotta love those window seats!

-My stay on the mediterranean also consisted of long touristy days and very late nights!

Just enjoying some Mediterranean sun



-At my hostel, I was able to make  friends with Belgians, Dutch, Austrailians, and Spanish alike.

 (Hostel X, Alicante....which I highly reccomend and is also rated as 1 of the top 5 party hostels in WORLD!)

Queen of the Castle

-I also managed to meet up with my cousin Camille, who was studying abroad and staying with an extremely nice family from Colombia. We went out on the town that friday night with her homestay sister Jen their friend for tapas and sangria, both of which are BOMB!



-The highlight of my stay had to be the hike up to the Castillo de Santa Barbara ( a massive fortress that overlooks the city and port of Alicante) and attempting to maul my body weight in empanadas.







Castillo de Santa Barbara





Camille and I keepin' Alicante safe



Thanks for reading and much love to everyone!!!

Portugal Round 2

ERICEIRA:

- Nov. 9th, Jared and I took mom to airport super early for her flight back to the states and now its just us boys.

Too Big!!!

- Attempted a surf today but checked out about 6 different breaks and they all were massive with no one out there.... so we napped it out until late afternoon...Its Jared´s last day so we tried again in the afternoon at a break called Riberas but it was a no-go...3.8-4.2 meters overhead left us on the beach...

-We headed down to Lisboa (Lisbon) for the evening to chill and wander around until Jared´s 6 a.m. red eye flight home.

A little preview of a time lapse from our patio!

-checked out the Castelo do St. Jorge at night in the Alfama area of Lisbon and then headed to the Barrio Alto for some grub and drinks.

-On wed Sammy and I attempted to surf another beach break our host George suggested but again, way to massive for us, so we decided to cruise down south in search of more...

LAGOS:

-We headed down to Lagos which was about 3 hours to the south of Lisbon on the coast in the Algarve region which is supposed to be beautiful!

-Since we left late in the morning and stopped along the way to check some other breaks we didn´t arrive until after dark and found a last minute hostel....The Rising Cock!

Practicing our ninja moves at 4:30 a.m.

-It was supposed to be a ´PARTY´ hostel but soon found out that we were the only ones there and were outnumbered by the staff 5 to 2 but they showed us a fun time anyways!...The night ended with the staff going to bed around 3 a.m.; Sammy and I cruised around with my camera getting some night shots of the port and city wall which had been around since medieval times.

The reason we aren´t surfing!!!

-Our plan was to hit the beach but the lack of sunshine and extremely windy, cloudy weather deterred us!

The beautiful coast of the Algarve on a stormy day!

The Hike

-After taking a 5 or so mile long walk down the shoreline which consisted of massive cliff walls surrounding private grado´s we called it a day and retired around sunset back to the hostel... you can really see how amazing this place can be with a little bit of warm weather. 

See if you can find our friend Rosie Brown!

-We stayed a second night due to the fact that by the time we came out of our room it was several hours past checkout so we had no choice.

SAGRES\ARRIFANA\ALZEJUR:

-On Sunday we decided to bail back towards Lisbon but not before checking out some more of the Algarve region and yet another surf break!

Brain doing a lil´modeling!

Posted up in the fort

The fort in Sagres

-The quaint town of Sagres lies right on the SW corner of Portugal and included a fort which is the western most point of mainland Europe...the closest we´ll be to home for a while!

-After Sagres we headed north to the tiny town of Alzejur which includes the last stronghold for the Muslims until the Christians took it over way back in 1142 A.D.....after some night shots of the castle and town we headed to the beach for some extremely uncomfortable car camping and a rad lightning storm.

The view from Arrifana

Last Muslim Stronghold...circa 1142 A.D.

Nightime at Monte Clerigo

Serious lighting...Arrifana

GOT IT!

LISBOA:

-Around 9 a.m. we cruised out of Arrifana back towards Lisbon arriving around 1 in the afternoon.

-Our aim was to try and see as much of it as possible until 6 a.m. when we would have to return our sweet diesel station wagon and move on to Espana.....needless to say we fell quite short of our goal and ended up once again in the Alfama and Barrio Alto neighborhoods.

Some urban art in the Barrio Alto neighborhood

-We did however check out the Museu Coleçao Berardo of contemporary art which was SICK!!...and consisted of art from the likes of Pablo Picaso, Salvador Dali, and Andy Warhol just to name a popular few....a must see if you ever make it to Lisboa!!!!

 WE LOVE YOU ALL AND THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!!!

-Sam and Brian