CounterClifton

Seminyak was bad for that humid heat. Ubud usually, not always, a nice relief. Singapore similar to the lower areas of Bali. None as sweltering and sticky as time we spent in Galle though.

mlgb

Singapore was also worse than Iquitos. I never thought anything could be worse than that.

marmot

North Sulawesi in general and Tangkoko national park specifically is a wonderful destination, but getting there from Tanah Toraja will take more than a day. It may not be worth it to you if you're not interested in tying in a visit to one of North Sulawesi's marine parks.

You might look for wilderness areas in South Sulawesi (where Toraja and Makassar are located). There's a good deal of phenomenal scenery to be had in the area and I would imagine wildlife as well though I don't have personal experience outside of Toraja.

Lore Lindu is another spectacular national park in Central Sulawesi, and though it's not too far from Toraja geographically, I think it's a case of you can't get there from here. As mentioned, ground transportation in Sulawesi is primitive and the only way to get from place to place is to backtrack to an airport and fly to another.

This is a good site for an overview of Sulawesi:
http://www.amazingsulawesi.com/about...sland-sulawesi

I think your time allocation is reasonable, except that if you haven't been to Bali before you'll want more than 3 nights in Ubud. You might save Bali for another trip and add the extra nights to a second location in Sulawesi.

5 nights in Central Java (Yogya & Borobudur) should be enough. The amount of time you spend in East Java depends on what you cover: Bromo, Malang, Ijen, archeological sites. I wouldn't miss Bromo.

What are your travel dates?

CaliforniaLady

Thanks, Marmot. My travel dates, if I can get the award flights are: August 31 arrival, with departure on September 23, thus giving me 23 nights on the ground.

Your advice about skipping Bali altogether is well taken, however none of the cities on Sulawesi are One World, so I would have to fly on my own to either Surabaya, Jakarta, or Denpasar, in order to catch a Cathay flight. I figured that I could get taste of Bali, but maybe I should just stay there one night, and start my journey home from Denpasar.

I looked into Lore Lindu, and it looks beautiful. I saw some organized trips that go to both the funeral area and Lore Lindu. However, I think that Tangkoko has more of an established infrastructure? No more shared bathrooms for me, please. I'll work on this more after I return from Sri Lanka/India, but your help has given me confidence that I'm on the right track.

Thanks!

marmot

I think you are right that Lore Lindu is less traveled than Tangjoko. I don't have experience with accommodations in either. To get from Torajo yo Tangkoko would take at least a day and a half, though. Lore Lindu mighty be accessible overland.

It seems a shame to be in the region and not spend time in Bali. Once your destinations are set in Java and Sulawesi you'll know if you have any days to spare.

CaliforniaLady

Thank you, marmot. I'll put this all together after I get my flights. Indeed, Tangkoko does seem far away, but we'll see.

MmePerdu

Regarding flights, I buy the long hauls in advance but sometimes leave the short hops for later, even last minute. SE Asia is the best region I know for leaving open the possibility that the greatest luxury of all, spontaneity, has a place in my travel life. Air Asia flights and others can be had last minute without breaking the bank and I like to know that if where I am turns out to be short of my expectations, I can bail and go elsewhere (like Bali) without planning ahead. Something to keep in mind if it appeals to you, as it does to me.

mlgb

I think three nights in Ubud will give you a good taste, I was there Weds-Friday night, departing a Saturday morning.. I went to the 7:30 pm dance performance at the Ubud Palace my arrival day, walked around central Ubud, Penestenan, Campuhan, the Monkey Temple, and enjoyed the Friday Bali Bird/rice field walk followed by the included lunch at Murni's Warung. In between walking and resting also some real and window shopping visiting the main market in Ubud, and some of the nicer textile stores, and a few of the close-in temples. I did not spend ANY time at the beachy tourist districts. Found the food in Ubud to be quite good and inexpensive by US standards. Although you could easily spend a few weeks, that doesn't mean three nights won't be enjoyable.

As I said the weather in Ubud was moderated by the elevation, and I had been acclimated by a few weeks in much more hot and humid parts of Indonesia. It did not take too much longer to get to the airport from Ubud rather than Kuta etc. which had been one of my concerns.

In Ubud I stayed a bit uphill from the Blanco museum, at Sri Ratih. Reasonably priced yet a bit luxe, good restaurant onsite with room service. The rooms have excellent plumbing/AC and TV as well as open air balconies and a pool. All of which I needed after my 'ecolodges'. I liked the location..possible to walk into town, they have a scheduled free drop off in the center of town neare the Ubud Palace a few times a day.

CaliforniaLady

MmePerdu - My intention was to book the international flights now and worry about the internal ones later. I wish I had your courage to be more spontaneous, however. There have been so many times when I planned out my trip with great detail, only to be stuck in a place for a few days that everyone raved about, and I am thinking, "Oh my, I wish I could move on." Thank you.

mlgb - Thank you for your great synopsis of Ubud. It does indeed sound intriguing. I have made note of your hotel.

MmePerdu

CL, no one ever told me how easy it is to book last minute flights in Asia. I had to figure it out myself. So I'm telling you, have no fears in that regard. I first became aware of the ease of operating that way flying into the old airport in Bangkok and worrying about catching a pre-booked flight on to Chiang Mai. The truth was I could arrive on my flight from CA, walk to the domestic terminal, buy a ticket at a window, kind of like buying a train ticket, and get on the next flight within an hour. It was great!

Since then I've applied the same modus operandi to flights all over the region. I encourage you to give it a try. It only seems courageous because we're trained by the travel industry to pre-plan everything and set it in concrete. It's simply a matter of a different approach, no courage needed once we realize that we need not do things as we've always done them (I think this applies to life in general).