The next day we took a 4-hour drive to this tiny town called Weligama. It’s a surfing town. It has really good surfing for beginners (us). It’s a really great town. Very authentic. There were cows in the middle of the road and on the beach just minding there own business and happily munching.

One of the best parts about it was the place we stayed. It’s called Lanka lodge and it’s amazing. One of the best parts is that they cook you really authentic Sri Lankan food. Sri Lankan food is a bit like Indian in the sense of rice and curry. You get one main dish and then a lot of different delicious side dishes. A lot of them are spicy. Lanka Lodge is on the beach, but not a surfing or swimming or chillaxing beach. It has sharp rocks and seashells. One day Syd, Christian, and I walked down on the beach to collect seashells. And boy, were their a lot of amazing ones. We were out there for about 2 hours and we almost missed breakfast. There was some tide pools with sea cucumbers. We also hiked up a hill and chucked rocks at unsuspecting and suspecting crabs below. By the end of it our feet where all numb.

On one of the touristy beaches we went to there was this restaurant called W15 that we went to twice. They had a really nice beach and a great pool.

Another amazing thing was that their was monkeys in the trees in our yard sometimes. One time when they were their we got to feed them!!!

On June 10 we flew to Colombo, Sri Lanka, which is off the southern tip of India.

We spent the night and when we woke up it was the countdown to when the Nickums were to arrive. If you don’t know the Nickums, that either means you don’t live in Hailey, Idaho, or you’re crazy. Hilary and Christian are the parents, which is ironic, because my mom’s name is Hilary too. They have kids named Maddox and Sydney. Maddox is 14 and Syd is my age, 11. Syd and I are really good friends. Syd and I met in kindergarten and she has been one of my best friends since. So then our parents met and they are also really good friends. Both with the same name!

We were siting on the rooftop pool of our hotel and it was half an hour until they were to come. I couldn’t sit still. I was jumping and hopping and annoying everyone around me. Then ten minutes to go I couldn’t wait any longer. So I made everyone come down with me. Then they came. It was so amazing!! I was sooooo excited. We went to dinner and then went to bed.

The next day we went to open all the things that people had sent to us through the Nickums. (Thank you so, so, so much if you were one of those people!!!) I now officially have a completely full backpack. After that we walked down town and visited these really cool Buddhist shrines. In the second biggest one there was the smallest Buddha in the world. You had to look at it though a magnifying glass! It was crazy.

On Thursday, May 24, we left Borneo. We stayed at my parents old friend’s house. My parents met them in China when they visited there. Their names are Jason and Wenrei and they have this really cute four year old daughter named Ally.
She is so cute!!! They live in Bali, Indosesia! We went surfing for 3 days straight and I learned how to catch my own wave!!! My legs got really rashed and our fingers were all red and puffy. Decker’s were red and his pinkies had all the skin rubbed away. One day me and Ally went horseback riding on the beach.

Then on June 1st we went to Lombok, which is the island right next to Bali. We are staying in my late uncle’s brother’s house with his wife and 2 dogs. I was so excited because I have not been able to pet or play with any kind of animal since home!!! Yesterday we took my uncle’s boat and driver and toured around the gilis. That is the Indonesian word for island. We went to 3 different gilis and snorkeled on 2 and had lunch on the other. The snorkeling was the best I had ever done!! Even better than the Great Barrier Reef!!!!! It was soooooo cool!!! There were so many different types of fish and coral! It was so cool! Today I went surfing with an instructor. It was a lot of fun!!! 

On Monday we left for this jungle lodge in this place called Sandakan. The day after we got there we went to the Orangutan Rehabilitation Center. It is this giant open rainforest enclosure were the orangutans can be free but the caretakers can still find them. Once they are ready they get released into the wild. While we were walking towards the nursery we saw a wild orangutan climbing on the walkway railing. It was our first orangutan encounter. Did you know that Borneo is the only place in the world that has orangutans? She was so cute! I wanted to reach out and pet her.

Mimi

Mimi

Mimi

Mimi

After he had walked away we went to the nursery. The people put food on the little structures and the monkeys can chose or not if they want to come. They did. And they were cute. And funny. And hungry. They played and swung and wrestled and ate and fell and slept and picked fleas off each other. After that we went to the outdoor feeding that was way too hot and didn’t have very many monkeys. So we went back to the nursery. After a little bit my brother claimed and wined that he was going to faint if he didn’t have food this instant. I told him that he should have eaten his lunch.

By then he had kind of made it not so fun to go back to the orangutans so we went to the Sun Bear Rehabilitation Center that is right next door. The sun bears were great, but I’ve got to admit that the orangutans were sooo much better! You didn’t really get to see the sun bears very well.

After that Decker, my dad and I went home. My mom wanted to stay till the four‘o’clock shuttle. I love orangutans!!!!!!!!!

Extras:

On our last day in Phong Na we went to this place called the Duck Stop. It was awesome! We motorbiked on a dirt road for a while until we found it. It is a tour. They first give you the delicious peanuts that are famous in Vietnam. They were so good! Then this awesome guy named Quinn that worked at the place we were staying at took us over to the duck pen. He also owns the Duck Stop. The duck pen had over a hundred ducks in there. They were  all exactly the same identical white ducks. It was crazy! We took some food out of the bucket and they all came running at us. We opened our hands they were full of duck feed and put them down one at a time. When it was my turn I put my hand down and they all came running. It tickled sooo bad! It also was like a massage! After that we played “Duck Leader”. We each shook the bucked and ran and they would follow us. Then after that we sat down in butterfly pose with a hole between our feet. Then Quinn threw duck feed in there. Every single duck came stampeding towards us. Then they attacked our feet. It tickled like crazy! So much! My dad actually said that he might of peed his pants, which doesn’t happen very often (the admitting it, not the peeing part. He does that all the time.😜)!   After that we got to pick up our lucky duck (which actually wasn’t very lucky for the duck) and throw them in the pond! Mine flew gracefully. Decker’s on the other hand, did not. He actually threw it overhand! The duck’s legs flew out in different directions and he turned over. But in the end he didn’t even seem fazed! It was hilarious! I threw a lot more ducks after that but Decker’s was the funniest.

After the ducks, Quinn handed us over to another guy who took us to Donald Trump the water buffalo. He was soooo cute! I got to ride him first. I sat on him and then the guy pulled him into the man made mud pit. He walked through and then in the middle the guy told him to get down. So he laid down and I got covered in mud. I tried to stay out as much as I could but it was really hard! Then we walked out of the mud pit and my mom took some pictures of me. After that my brother got on. Unfortunately, he didn’t get to have Donald lay down. Then the guy took some really great photos of Decker and me.

After Donald Trump, we went back to the main place and they gave us these great savory pancake/pie things that we made into spring rolls. The Duck Stop was so amazing!

How Decker threw the duck

Follow the leader

Hand massage

Follow the leader

Follow the leader

How you are supposed to throw a duck

Foot massage

Hand massage

Foot massage

Follow the leader

Foot massage

Foot massage

Hand massage

Foot massage

Yesterday we went on a tour to Elephant Cave, Ma Da Lake, and Tra Ang Cave. We went with a tour group called Jungle Boss and we got an awesome guide! Her name was Sarah. We had a car ride to where you stop and then we hiked in the hot jungle for 20 minutes until we got to Elephant Cave. Elephant Cave is named Elephant cave because it has pictures on the wall of elephants and in the rocks you can see elephants. It was so cool! The elephants were everywhere! Then we explored the cave for an hour and kept hiking.

We had to hike on the terribly hot highway with no shade whatsoever for 20 minutes. It was sooooooooooooo hot!!!!!!!                         We then trekked in the hot, humid and hot jungle for an hour and a half. Oh, did I mention that it was hot? On the way to Ma Da Lake we crossed at least ten rivers. Some of them didn’t go past our shoes, but some of them went up to my waist! It felt really good because I was so hot. Also because of the wet it was super duper muddy! We had to jump around over the mud and on the banks. It was the kind of mud that is super slimy, wet, and gross. By the end my shoes were completely covered in mud.

When we finally got to the lake we put our swimsuits on and jumped in. I was the first one to jump of the rock. I did it to get in instead of forcing myself deeper and deeper. It was really fun. After swimming we had a barbecue lunch where you make your own spring rolls. They were delish.

Then we hiked for another hour and half to Tra Ang Cave. When we got there we put our swimsuits on again and walked down to the cave. Then we got in. We swam up the cave for about twenty minutes. It was really, really cold! But it was so much fun! It was so dark that we brought the helmets and light they gave us. It was so cool! Once we were out they gave us tea and we got going. We only had to hike for fifteen minutes to get back to the road. Once we got there we hopped in and drove off. When we got back I was so tired! I had so much fun!

On the 11th of April we left for Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It was so hot! It was 98 degrees! It was night time and we got dropped off at our Airbnb in a 20 story building. They had a pool that we went in every day. We stayed there for 3 nights.

One day we went to the Cu Chi Tunnels, which are tunnels that the Viet Cong used secretly during the Vietnam war.  The Viet Cong were the communists. They used the tunnels to sneak up on the US and the other Vietnamese. The US didn’t know that the Viet Cong had their tunnels right under them. In the middle of the night, the Viet Cong would come out of their secret entrances and attack the US camps and steal their supplies. The US didn’t know how they were doing it.

We went on a tour of the tunnels and we got to look at all of the booby traps they made. We also got to try their secret entrances, which were tiny square holes with a cover on them that were covered with leaves. It was a very tight fit. We also got to go in a tunnel for 100 meters. Most of us anyway! (Mom!) It was a really tight tunnel already but the guide said they had made them wider because only tourists come to see them and they are a lot fatter than the Vietnamese. It was a long tour and super super super hot.

In Vietnam there aren’t many road rules. Really the only cars they have are the taxis. The rest are mostly mopeds. Mopeds are like smaller motorcycles and meant for just the pavement. The mopeds are everywhere. They are even on the sidewalks. Sometimes you can see 4 people on a moped at once. We call them them “four heads”. There are millions of mopeds. It’s really hard to cross the street because there aren’t any crosswalks and so you just have to go through all the mopeds and they never stop for you. It’s kind of like Crossy Road. If a taxi is on one side of the street and he wants to get to the other side he can just flip a U turn in front of everybody.

Julia: What do you miss most about home?

Decker:My friends, Legos… Nerf guns… and a lot of other things.

Julia: What do you miss least?

Decker: Chores, laundry, folding clothes…

Julia: Where are you most excited to go?

Decker: Egypt.

Julia: Who are you most tired of on this trip?

Decker: You!

Julia: Wow, thanks!

Julia: What are you most excited to do in Egypt?

Decker: Visit The Pyramids.

Julia: Have you lost anything yet? What do you think you are going to lose next?

Decker: Yes, I have lost stuff. And I think I’m going to lose…part of my transformer.

Julia: What are you most glad that you brought on this trip?

Decker: Toys, unlike somebody. (rolls eyes at Julia)

Julia: Is there anything else you want to tell me about this trip?

Decker: NO!

On an amazing April 5, I got out of school! It was amazingly amazing! Then, on April 8, we left for Tokyo. We left Sapporo for good. I was sad but also very excited that we were going somewhere new.

We stayed there for two days and did some awesome things. We saw the statue of Hachiko, which, if you don’t know about, you should read his story: Hachiko: The True Story of a Loyal Dog. We also saw the busiest intersection in the world at Shibuya Station, which was pretty cool.

We walked around town and went in toy stores, looked in shops, and just hung out. One day we went to the Nature and Science Museum, and ate snails for dinner. (They were disgusting!)

One of the funnest things we did was when we went to this park where there was thin metal bump that was twelve feet high and very slick. you climb up the back and then you can slide down it. It was big enough across to have 9 people race at the same time. Tokyo was so much fun!

At our apartment in Tokyo there was this Demon, get it, D-man, and this samari sword. Decker is posing for a picture.

On the subway ride my dad tied my shoes together. I know it looks like I know, but I had no idea until it was too late…

On our third day in Hiroshima, we took the Shinkansen, in other words, the Bullet Train, to Kyoto. Kyoto is the town in Japan were you can see a lot of traditional stuff. We saw about 100 people who had dressed up as Geishas. Geishas are people in Japan who are entertainers for men. They don’t ever really actually want to be them. It’s a lot of pain and uncomfortableness for their part. They wear these kimonos that are very fancy! There are  a million different places where people go to where other people dress them up to look like real Geishas.

In Kyoto, I can’t even tell you how many shrines, pagodas, and temples we saw, but I can tell you, it was a lot! Most of the shrines were all orange and were made in 160 something.

Apart from the temples and shrines, we did a lot of other amazing stuff. Every day we walked through the town of Kyoto and ate ice cream. One day we went to a place where there were a bunch of gates you walk through up a mountain. It was so much fun! Another day we we got on a boat and we did a little trip down the river. We went on a few class two and three rapids. It was really fun! After the boat, we walked up to the bamboo forest. It was so cool on the way, we heard a guy playing this instrument called the hand pan.

Yesterday the Stevensons left! I was sooooooo sad to see them go. They were on their way to Tokyo. We then left and walked to our next hotel. We are staying one more night in Kyoto than the Stevensons. Once we got to our hotel we rented bikes and rode along the river for two and a half hours. I am sitting in our room writing this. We are leaving Kyoto to go back to Sapporo this afternoon.

P.S. Most of the pictures I took I used our big camera. Once we get back to Sapporo, I will put those picures in another blog.