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Author Archives: The Dromomaniac
Boat Building & the Last Hitchhiking Stories from Sulawesi—I promise!
When I arrived at Pantai Bira (Bira Beach) in southern Sulawesi it was dead, but I saw a small gaggle of white people and asked them what’s doing. They were “boaties”, they called themselves, and had been living here for … Continue reading
Death in the morning: mass buffalo slaughter at a Toraja funeral ceremony
A couple of friends recommended it highly, but I didn’t want to visit Toraja, a region 11 bus hours north of Makassar in Sulawesi. I thought that the main attraction was to visit the natives in their habitat which sounds … Continue reading
The Unexpected Joy of Hitchhiking in Sulawesi, Indonesia
First, the bad news. The downside of hitchhiking is when you are subjected to the bad habits of the driver. A few days ago I was tortured with several songs by Michael Learns to Rock, which is the world’s worst … Continue reading
Golshifteh Farahani
In January I wrote about the time I met the Iranian actress, Golshifteh Farahani, and for a long time afterward I had a spike in traffic from Tehran, which seems obsessed with her since she is in exile for nude … Continue reading
On Trust in Ubud, Hitchhiking in Bali and Uterus Surfboards in Kuta
I made a second visit to Bumi Sehat Foundation, this time meeting with the founder herself, Ibu Robin. I’d barely arrived before I was led into a room where a woman had given birth 25 minutes earlier, I was told, … Continue reading
My Guide to Ubud on Less Than $10 a Day = My War with the Bali Tourism Board
Normally, I check out Google News and search by the town or country I am visiting to see what is going on. Maybe there is a film festival coming or a hot local topic people are stirred up about, but … Continue reading
The Best of Ubud, Bali
One reason I enjoy my time in Indonesia so much is that I can speak Indonesian, which makes even hanging out with potential taxi drivers fun. I can imagine that claiming to speak Indonesian raises hackles of Indonesians, who must … Continue reading
Short Story Time in Ubud, Bali
I was first in Ubud 21 years ago when there was a resident mad artist named Antonio Blanco. Pico Iyer wrote about visiting Blanco in his book that made an indelible impression on me, “Video Night in Kathmandu,” so, naturally, … Continue reading
Hitchhiking in Indonesia and the Cheap Flight Fight
Last time I wrote, I took a $29 flight, including all taxes, from Surabaya to Bali. I discovered that the alternative, a bus/ferry/bus combination, was $19 and takes 15 hours, usually as an overnight journey. I mentioned this to three … Continue reading
The Bali Tourism Quiz—a free postcard is the fabulous prize!
Pop quiz! Name the top 6 countries that send the most tourists to Bali. I bet you can get only 3 of them, and I bet you can’t guess #2. Answer at the bottom of this post. Since my brouhaha … Continue reading
