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Foreign Grocery Friday: The Kopi Luwak of Indonesia

Where: Bali, Indonesia
April 27, 2012 at 11:05 AM | by | Comments (0)

When we travel, one of our favorite things to do is to pop into a local grocery store and check out the food products and candies we'd never find anywhere else. So we're trying out this new feature, Foreign Grocery Friday, where each week we'll feature some of our (and your) favorite overseas treats. Got a recommendation? Let us know!

Kopi Luwak. It's often named the rarest, most expensive, most for-connoisieurs-only coffee and it owes all these superlatives to how it's produced: an Indonesian civet (like a possum) eats a certain type of coffee berry. Its digestive system digests the meat of the berry, adds enzymes to the bean inside, and then poops out the bean. These beans are then collected, cleaned and sterilized, roasted and ground into coffee powder.

At coffee shops around the world, occasional bags of the rare stuff find their way into stock, going for $40-$60 per cup. In Bali, Indonesia however, the "cat poo coffee" is far easier to come by since this is where it's produced.

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An Awesome Day on Bali: Bowing to the Surf Gods on Bingin Beach

April 26, 2012 at 2:51 PM | by | Comments (0)

BALI. For some, the word conjures up images of infinity pools, surfing beaches and tropical temples. For others, it's a nightmare of topless tourists and sweaty sightseeing. Well, we just got back ourselves and we, with the help of tips from friends and locals, did something in between...something that turned out to be awesome. Put on the SPF, hire a car* and join us this week as we reveal an An Awesome Day on Bali (Jaunted-style).

Our awesome day on Bali continues with some surf-spotting on Bingin Beach, recommended by our own contributor Max Graham.

If you've been following along on our recommendations for an awesome day in Bali, we've reached afternoon, post indulgent fresh seafood lunch. Resist the food coma siren song to chillax right there on Jimbaran Beach, and instead pile back into your private car* for a short drive further south, in the direction of Uluwatu.

It's here, along the coastline between Jimbaran and Uluwatu, that you'll find a strip of prime surfing beaches at the base of cliffs. Dreamland is the first major one for which you'll see signs, but just below is Bingin Beach and believe us that it's worth the extra few minutes driving.

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An Awesome Day on Bali: Eating Your Way Through Jimbaran Bay

April 25, 2012 at 5:08 PM | by | Comments (0)

BALI. For some, the word conjures up images of infinity pools, surfing beaches and tropical temples. For others, it's a nightmare of topless tourists and sweaty sightseeing. Well, we just got back ourselves and we, with the help of tips from friends and locals, did something in between...something that turned out to be awesome. Put on the SPF, hire a car* and join us this week as we reveal an An Awesome Day on Bali (Jaunted-style).

Our awesome day on Bali continues with a super fresh seafood lunch and some plane spotting on Jimbaran Bay.

You're in Bali. You want some seafood, right? Right. Let's go get some then.

If you've followed our awesome day thus far, you've already had some breakfast, some sightseeing and some pre-lunch boozing. From the jungle around Ubud, it's time to head back down to the beaches—Jimbaran Bay Beach, to be specific.

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An Awesome Day on Bali: Drinking the Local Brews

Where: Bali, Indonesia
April 25, 2012 at 4:08 PM | by | Comments (0)


BINTANG!

BALI. For some, the word conjures up images of infinity pools, surfing beaches and tropical temples. For others, it's a nightmare of topless tourists and sweaty sightseeing. Well, we just got back ourselves and we, with the help of tips from friends and locals, did something in between...something that turned out to be awesome. Put on the SPF, hire a car* and join us this week as we reveal an An Awesome Day on Bali (Jaunted-style).

Our awesome day on Bali continues with drinking...(almost) everywhere and (almost) everything.

All tastes can be satisfied by both non-alcoholic and adult beverages, a fact important to remember in Indonesia where much of the population is Muslim. Still, Bali offers a range of options, considering it's something of a melting pot for locals and tourists.

Our recent travel to the island means we truly got a feel for the local delicacies with some great food, but the drinks were quite notable as well. Though there are Starbucks scattered around, it's best to avoid them as you would the tap water.

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An Awesome Day on Bali: Stumbling upon the Starbucks Temple

April 24, 2012 at 12:02 PM | by | Comments (0)

BALI. For some, the word conjures up images of infinity pools, surfing beaches and tropical temples. For others, it's a nightmare of topless tourists and sweaty sightseeing. Well, we just got back ourselves and we, with the help of tips from friends and locals, did something in between...something that turned out to be awesome. Put on the SPF, hire a car* and join us this week as we reveal an An Awesome Day on Bali (Jaunted-style).

Our awesome day on Bali continues with a wander around Jalan Raya Ubud (Ubud's main street) and a visit to the Pura Taman Saraswati temple behind Starbucks (yes, Starbucks)..

Alright, so now that you've breakfasted at Biku, it's time to hop in that private car* and hightail it almost two hours north into the cultural heart of Bali, in the town of Ubud. We recommend going there in the morning, because the afternoon brings the tour buses and floods the sidewalks (already barely wide enough for one) and many, many temples with vacationers who stop, stare, photograph, bargain for tchotchkes and sweat down the backs of their T-shirts.

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An Awesome Day on Bali: Breakfast at Biku

April 23, 2012 at 11:53 AM | by | Comments (0)

BALI. For some, the word conjures up images of infinity pools, surfing beaches and tropical temples. For others, it's a nightmare of topless tourists and sweaty sightseeing. Well, we just got back ourselves and we, with the help of tips from friends and locals, did something in between...something that turned out to be awesome. Put on the SPF, hire a car* and join us this week as we reveal an An Awesome Day on Bali (Jaunted-style).

Our awesome day on Bali begins with breakfast at Biku, in North Seminyak/Kerobokan.

Step outside of one of the mega resorts in Seminyak and Kuta and you'll very quickly learn two things: the local breakfast is a billion times better than whatever the resort is giving you "complimentary," and it's kind of difficult to find the beautiful Balinese-style buildings of your dreams in a city where so much is recently built of concrete.

The answer to both is Biku a tea house/restaurant/bookshop that serves a killer brunch and "Asian high tea" in a colonial-style building with exposed beams and ceiling fans instead of AC.

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Wish You Were Here: Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

April 20, 2012 at 10:37 AM | by | Comments (0)

Selamat pagi! For those in the know, you know that's "good morning" in Bahasa Indonesian. Naturally this can mean only one thing. We're in Indonesia! To be specific, we're in Bali; even more specifically, the town of Ubud.

After a few flights and even more fun in a few airports, we arrived on the tropical island and it was all worth it. First, we began in the beach town of Seminyak, which was everything you dream of when Bali comes to mind. Infinity pools, luxury hotels, black sand beaches, cocktails, and sun have all played a major role in this trip. We even sampled kopi luwak, a rare coffee of origin in Indonesia basically made from mongoose poop. More on that later.

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Surf and Teach English in Bali with a New Year's Voluntourism Discount

Where: Bali, Indonesia
January 5, 2011 at 3:31 PM | by | Comments (0)

If your New Year's resolution was to take a volunteer vacation, i-to-i Volunteer and Adventure Travel is offering an incentive for you to keep it.

The travel company is offering 12% off any of their volunteer or adventure experiences if you book by January 31, 2011. i-to-i has several different types of trips planned for 2011, including building, teaching, and conservation opportunities to fit any skill set.

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Tweet of the Week: Bali Is All It's Cracked Up To Be

April 6, 2010 at 4:55 PM | by | Comments (2)

We love Tuesdays. Why, you ask? Because the day brings many travel tips and quips as "Travel Tuesday" on Twitter, and we're going to share our favorite with you. Got an avid travel twitterer we should follow? Let us know.

Do you follow @nomadicmatt on Twitter yet? Because you totally should. The man, Matt from Boston, has been traveling the world consistently since 2005, when he did what everyone dreams of doing; he quit his job and just took off. Contrary to what you'd expect, Matt has been living this way as a true modern nomad; he's frugal and advocates Couchsurfing and slow travel versus hotels and flying from dot-to-dot.

Currently he's in Bali after a stretch in Indonesia's Gili Islands, and he tweets what we've feared about the exotic destination:

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Bali Tourists Bitten By Rabies Scare

Where: Bali, Indonesia
September 30, 2009 at 9:18 AM | by | Comments (0)

The Indonesian island paradise of Bali, a major tourist hangout, seems to be having a few glitches lately. As if running out of alcohol wasn't already a pretty big problem, now the rabid dog problem looks like it is getting a bit out of control.

Previously rabies-free, the disease hit Bali last year, but it's only in the last few months that the drama has really hit the press and worried tourists. Ten locals have even died from rabies in the past year, and now tourists who get bitten by suspicious-looking dogs might have nowhere to turn—post-exposure vaccine supplies at Bali hospitals are pretty much non-existent.

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BYOB Bali: Tourist Resorts Running Out Of Alcohol

Where: Bali, Indonesia
August 25, 2009 at 10:29 AM | by | Comment (1)

Indonesia's popular beach vacation island of Bali might become a perfect retreat for vacationers wanting to detox, since the government started tightening up the laws on alcohol importation.

It turns out that until recently, some 90% of the beer, wine and spirits being brought into Bali was imported illegally to avoid the 200% duties and taxes. But with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (we'd vote for him just for his cool name) getting in for a second term, he decided to crack down on this practice. As a result, alcohol is starting to get scarce, and what's left in store there is starting to get ridiculously expensive.

Apparently some hotels have even started asking their guests to bring alcohol along and the hotel will reimburse them. So if you're heading to Bali soon with the intention of indulging in plenty of cocktails by the pool, either think again or BYOB.

Related Stories:
· Bali Running Out Of Alcohol [The Age]
· Bali Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: rfaulds]

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A View Of The Big Pool

June 1, 2009 at 4:35 PM | by | Comments (0)

Last one in's a rotten egg! We're finding the best places in the world to stick our toes in this summer (or next winter) for our World's Coolest Pools map. Know of any pools we must check out? Let us know.

After seeing our Santa Barbara triple hop last week, a tipster writes in to up the ante. This pool with a view has a five-star resort around it, but that view's worth a million bucks.

The Amankila resort in Bali opened in 1992 to sell that view from its 34 suites (each an individual beach house) to vacationers craving something nice to look at. Acrophobics fret not, the beach below is also owned by the resort privately.

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