Week for week a lot happens behind the scenes at wavesnbackpack but even with Instagram Stories and other updates a lot isn’t seen by everybody. So why not becoming a bit more personal. Especially during our trip it might be interesting what we are up to, what we experienced and which learnings we’ve made. Everything just a tiny bit more intimate – for this we now initiate our weekly blog post series weekly recap. Here you can dive deeper into our travels every Sunday. Just very brief. Where are we? What flashed us totally and what’s the plan for the upcoming days.
PLACES SEEN THE PAST 2 WEEKS
Bagan, Yangon, Singapore, Medan, Simeulue & Yogyakarta
FAVORITES OF THE LAST
Favorite Moment
Ani: I am still stoked from Bagan and consequently still my favorite moment. The sunrise that illuminates the temples in a golden light while listening to the sounds from hot air balloons. The first balloon rises slowly and more follow soon. All this together make surreal picture. Great to bask in these memories.
Julian: Finally I made it. I paddled in the line up the horizon in front of me. Looking for the next wave I sit in lukewarm water, able to see my feet and the reef, as the water is so clear. Suddenly, something surfaced looked in my direction, took a deep breath and vanished in the depth again. Always incredible to see turtles.
Favorite Location
Without a doubt our porch in Simeulule, with the best ocean view you can get. Buffalos that took a bath in the river mouth while the sun sinks into the ocean coloring everything in purple, orange and red. Relaxed times!
Favorite Accommodation
Aura Surf Resort
The resort on Simeulue is managed from a friend that Julian met a couple of years ago in a layover in Doha. The little huts are located directly at the beach, surrounded by pristine nature, incredible waves and delicious food. The island defines the word “pristine” and the locals here are friendly as we have never encountered it before. Lying in the bed you hear the waves. Nothing more to add!
Favorite Food
Din Tai Fung, Singapore
The restaurant offers deliciously handmade dumplings! You can order in all different varieties and we decided for the veggie version of it. Either steamed or deep-fried. Together with some soy sauce and chilli, absolutely perfect.
CHALLENGE OF THE LAST 2 WEEKS
The two of us had very different challenges. While Ani was busy fighting sneaky monkey’s, giant cockroaches, wild goats and other evil wild life, Julian fought with the power of the ocean. Not only once the ocean won. So his motto was: hold breath and let it happen.
SONG OF THE LAST 2 WEEKS
A band again! While playing the card game “Shithead” we listened to a couple of fabulous guys from Nashville – King of Leon
PLAN FOR THE NEXT
Keep
Be close to the ocean!
Let go
Leave the prohibition of alcohol in Sumatra behind.
Add
After almost one month travelling we have to notice again – time flies! Especially, when you do and plan new stuff every day. We try to inhale and enjoy even more.
Consider
We just decided to skip one stop, even though we would have loved to see the sunrise on Mount Bromo in Java. Certainly an incredible experience but the planning and getting there would be time consuming and stressful (14 hours train ride, 4 busses, taxi, etc) . Sometimes is less more. So we decided to reduce the pace and enjoy more.
DAILY GRATITUDE
We are very thankful for the kindness of the locals in Simeulue. Beside a couple of surfers you hardly see any tourists (we have been the only white people in the plane). Everybody smiled at us and while driving on the scooter, people, especially kids greeted us loudly. A owner of a little shop on the street invited us for a coffee and we communicated with a few words Bahasa and a few words English. But everyone was happy.
UPCOMING WORK PROJECTS
An isolated island in North Sumatra also means: no internet! The service was enough to send out 1-3 Whatsapp messages per day. That’s why we now want to post more on Instagram Stories again. As well as that, the first Myanmar article is almost ready!
Thanks for having us and see you next week, when we share our weekly recap #5 with you!
So far, have a fabulous week!
Ani & Julian
