Safe and sound in Santa Cruz!

Well folks I think this trip was supposed to end early for us. I was very disappointed that we had to cancel our visit to Borneo... but it seemed like the right thing to do.

Seeing that Ryan ruptured his eardrum, we worried about infection while we float up a river into the "bush". There is a very limited flight schedule back to Jakarta from the nearest "city" near the orangutan park. So, instead if traveling into the jungle, we took the cautious route and moved our flight up a few days to come home.

Had we taken our original flight home we would probably be stuck in Tokyo right now! As it is, we missed the earthquake by a few hours.

We wish the Japanese citizens well as they recover from this tragedy.

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Cold in Tokyo subway.

Everyone wears a mask in Tokyo.

Oedo sushi. Well worth the hour wait at 10AM for sushi breakfast in Tokyo.

Hachiko. Supposedly the busiest traffic crossing in the world.

Decisions.

Subway trip into Tokyo

Tokyo rocks!

Unfortunately we had to cancel our trip to Borneo due to some ear issues that Ryan was experiencing as a result of diving in the Gili's. All is well now thanks to some antibiotics. It was probably for the better as we made it in and out of Tokyo just prior to the earthquake.

Here is a shot in front of Oedo sushi in Tokyo's Tsjukiji fish market where we ate the best sushi ever!

It is our last day on Gili Air. We finished our open water dive course and went on four amazing dives around the Gili's. Now we can dive anywhere, anytime. Tomorrow we make our journey to Borneo in hopes of seeing many orangutans. Here's a shot from the beach.

Dinner seat on the beach at the Zip Bar.

Transport option on Gili Air.

No vehicles on Gili air. It is great! Only horse carriages for transport.

Our room. Not bad for $35 a night

Gili Air is everything it was promised to be.

Quiet... No motorized vehicles outside of boats.

Beautiful.... On land and under water.

Relaxing... Sleeping sound and eating great food. What more can you ask for!?!

And the best part, we are half way thru our Open Water Dive Certification! Diving has been a blast. It is so fun to learn something new. We have a great instructor and have already had a couple of great experiences in about 10-15 meters of water. Before we finish we will demonstrate our ability to reach at least 18 meters. We are able to see so much more while diving than snorkeling. We have already seen turtles, lion fish, a huge cuttlefish, schools of jacks and snapper, 2 eels, a lobster....etc. The water is warm and despite the rain we have had at night, visibility is good!

Sorry about the lack of photos. The I pod doesn't work under water.

We leave for Gili Air first thing tomorrow morning. It sounds like we have a "gauntlet" of a port town to negotiate.... So think calming thoughts for us as we run thru the hecklers and salesmen for the harbor ticket office.

On to a quiet snorkel / dive paradise. We will miss Kuta, but we have been here about a week and it is time to move on.

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Kuta

View from Segar beach in Kuta, Lombok.

Our ride