Trip to Bali
Trip to Bali
Friday August 24:
We finally had a week off from the grind of teaching five days a week, week after week. A whole week to get out of town and we took it. Three of us, Colleen, Julia and I, headed for Bali, that jewel in the necklace of 170,000 islands that make up Indonesia. We had big plans to visit several islands nearby and really get a taste of Indonesia. We left the apartment at 8AM for our 11:30 flight. Things went smoothly and we got to the airport in plenty of time, had breakfast at McDonalds (am I the only person who really likes an Egg McMuffin?) and browsed through the mini-mart for books to read. We went through security and they asked me to open my bag which I did of course as I had nothing to hide. The woman pulled an unopened jar of peanut butter from my backpack. Peanut butter is an essential item for any serious traveler traveling to a land and cuisine with which he is unfamiliar. (And it’s great for cheap snacks). The lady looked at the jar and then at another person in uniform and then turned to me and said, “This is a gel.” “Pardon me?” I responded, wondering if she had ever tasted peanut butter or had seen it spread on bread. “It’s not a gel,” I said. “it’s a gel, You can’t take this on board. You’ll have to go back to check-in and check this through or we’ll have to keep.” I hope she likes peanut butter.
We flew on Air Asia and, lo and behold, they asked Express Passengers and Senior Citizens to board first. Well, I hated to reveal my age but I wasn’t about to pass up the chance to be one of the first on the plane, especially since the seating was first come first served. I went to the head of the line and saved seats in the front for Colleen and Julia. It was a pretty day but slightly overcast. Not much to see except a blanket of white clouds below until suddenly we saw a mountain rising through the layer of white. A volcano, obviously dormant as there was a lake in the crater. We took some pictures out the window.
As we descended, we could see crystal clear blue water beneath us and blue sky overhead. A good start to any vacation. At the airport, we went got our luggage and went through through immigration. We had to get a visa for Indonesia. The sign said Visa for 7 days- $10. Visa for 8 days or more- $25. We looked at each other. We had arrived on Friday and weren’t leaving until the following Saturday. Was it worth the chance? Nope. We wanted a worry free vacation. We paid the $25 dollars. The airport in Bali is beautiful. The statuary and artwork are unique and distinctive. Even with my limited knowledge of what to expect, I felt I was in Bali, the Bali of the movies and National Geographic. We looked for a way into town, something that is always risky in airports. Invariably, you will be taken. It always coats more to go from the airport to your hotel than from your hotel to the airport. There was a taxi station inside the airport and we decided to take a taxi for what seemed reasonable, $4. The driver said, “Let me help you,” and he grabbed Colleen’s bag with wheels leaving her with a backpack and a large purse and Julia with a backpack and and her carry-on bag. So much for tropical chivalry.
We told the driver to just take us to downtown Kuta as we didn’t have a reservation. He asked us what we needed and suggested a couple of places, all of which were too expensive for our budgets. We told how much we wanted to spend and he took us to the Melasti Hotel. I sat in the car with the driver while the girls looked at the room and bartered on the price. The driver was very talkative and told me his name (I didn’t remember what it was) which meant Number Two. His older brother is Number One. He said it is a very popular name in Bali as ALL second sons are named Number Two and ALL first sons are Number One. Only the last name is different. The same system is used for women but maybe with a feminine suffix. The girls got a good price on a room for three and we decided to stay. The hotel was on the beach and on the main street of the town. A great location and a beautiful hotel with two swimming pools and lush, tropical foliage everywhere. All the staff were wearing colorful, traditional outfits with funny looking pointed hats. Can’t really describe them. I’ll have to send pictures. The hotel was not a single building but several buildings with lots of stairs that went that way and this. It reminded me of a maze, like the staircases in “The Name of the Rose” or the moving stairs in the Harry Potter movies. The second time we went to the room, we had trouble finding it. There were statues everywhere, bas reliefs on the walls and several Hindu alters. Our room overlooked the pool and when we leaned out from our balcony, we could see the beach and the spectacular sunsets. We were in a tropical paradise.
We settled in and then went for a walk along the beach. The beach is very wide and the sand was brown (unlike the white sugar sand on Siesta Key). The waves were rolling in and there were lots of surfers. We cut through the yard of a luxury hotel to get back to the main road. The yard had beautiful foliage, a huge pool with a bar right in the water, and the promise of a buffet with traditional dancing on Saturday night. We made a note to come back. The main drag in Bali is very busy and caters to tourists. There are huge malls, a stretch with the most exclusive shops and many areas of street markets with small booths mostly selling t-shirts and souvenirs. Typical vacation resort town.
There are statues and shrines everywhere. Indonesia is 80% Muslim but Bali is 90% Hindu. The shrines are Hindu but not like the ones I had seen in other countries. Instead of a shrine covered with figures representing the various Hindu gods, the ones in Bali are rather simple with geometric designs for decorations and no statues.
We took lots of pictures along the way, had a good dinner and crashed early.
Saturday August 25:
Enjoyed a good buffet breakfast which was included in the price of the room. We got off to a slow start. In fact, the whole day went slowly. We went to the pool. I sunbathed forty minutes on each side trying to get a start on a tan. Julia went for a walk on the beach with her camera. I stayed by the pool and read and watched the kites dancing in the sky. There were lots of kites most five or six feet across and of various decorations: birds, ships, blossoms, mermaids, etc. There was a shrine beside the pool and around noon an employee of the hotel brought an offering consisting a small dish about four inches square, made from a banana leaf (perhaps) and filled with rice, flowers and whatever else was appropriate. He placed the offering on the shrine which already had several offerings of similar design, lit a josh stick (an incense stick), clasped his hands in prayer with the josh stick between them held his hands to his forehead, and bowed three times while saying a prayer. He told me that offering are made three times a day, morning, noon and night. And, since there were many offerings on the alter, it seems that many employees of the hotel make their offerings there.
We walked down the beach in the shade of the trees that lined the beach, avoiding, or trying to the hawkers trying to sell everything from t-shirts to massages and pedicures to bows and arrows. Don’t know why you would want a bow and arrow on the beach. We had lunch in an Indonesian restaurant and had gato-gato. Not sure what it was but it was good. Topped it off with a Krispy Kreme donut next door. Walked through narrow streets lined with shops offering souvenirs, clothes and gifts. Visited the Bomb Memorial honoring about two hundred people who were killed by an explosion in a popular restaurant in ????. approximately 40 Australians died and the locals told us that their tourist traffic has not completely recovered. I bough a bright colored Bali shirt on the way back to the hotel. The rest of the day, we just rested, napped, sat by the pool, worked puzzles and avoided the sun in the heat of the day,
That night we had dinner in a Mexican restaurant and then came back to the hotel where we had some drinks and listened to two lady singers, most of whose songs were in English.
Sunday August 26:
We hired a car and driver named Yoman for the day to take us around the island. They have a set route but we could change things up a bit if we desired. First, we went to a traditional dance performance. Colorful costumes, painted faces, stylized dancing and lots of posing. The dance told a story of good triumphing over evil. Evil spirits, monkey gods and lots of slapstick and penis humor (which seemed out of place). Anyway, it was interesting but not what I had expected. The music was provided unusual instruments: Something like a violin but with only one string and positioned vertically, drums, and a series of different sized bells played with a mallet. The music seemed very random with no obvious melody but the musicians all knew when to begin and they all ended together which seemed something of a minor miracle to me.
We passed on stopping at the gold and silver village (each village has a specialty) and visited a woodcarving village. A brief tour told about the various woods used and we got to watch some men carving indifferent designs and sizes. Some of the work was incredibly intricate, fishermen with nets and woven baskets, and some were erotic, penises of various sizes, something a gay might want to have in his living room. Obviously there is a market for that sort of thing. We stopped briefly at the Monkey Forest. We didn’t pay to walk through because there were monkeys everywhere around the entrance. They would come right up to you and take peanuts out of your hand. I watched and took pictures.
Next we went to the Elephant Cave Temple, a Hindu temple. When we walked in, a man told us to follow him and the began telling us about the temple. It was built in the 11th century but then covered by an earthquake. The cave was rediscovered in 1923 and the fountains which are at a lower level were only found in 1954. The entrance to the cave had many carvings of animals, however the guide at the temple told us that there are no elephants in Bali. There was an shrine near the cave and the guide noticing that someone had left money as an offering walked over and took it. Why would a god need spending money? About half way through the tour, our guide began asking us how much we were going to give him He suggested ten dollars. I gave him some money and told him to go away. It always upsets me when they attach themselves to you and then want money. I didn’t ask him to show us around. We saw women preparing rice cake and workmen carrying concrete blocks on their heads. Labor is still very primitive.
We stopped briefly in the town of Ubud for a snack and walked around a bit. Lots of women carrying large baskets on the heads moving smoothly and gracefully down the street. Someone told us that the in Bali they bury the dead, leave them for four or five years, then dig them up and cremate them. Then they will either go to heaven or hell. This was also true in Vietnam where they dig them up after three years and rebury them. Not sure what religion practices this.
We had lunch at a restaurant on top of a hill looking out at a volcano and a lake beside it. It was an incredible location and the restaurant obviously catered to tourists. The meal was buffet was expensive and the added tax and service charge, something which was usually included in the simpler restaurants. But the view was worth it. Don’t know when it last erupted but you could see where the lava flow had ended, a stark contrast between the black, barren land and the lush, tropical green plants. Houses were built close to the edge of the lava flow but I’m not sure if they were spared from the last eruption or were built afterward. Not sure I would want to live that close to a volcano. But the view from the restaurant was lovely. We lingered over our late lunch, had fruit for desert and took pictures. We were the last to leave.
On the way back we passed my stands on the side of the road selling fruit, something we had not seen in the lowlands. Must have been grown in the higher elevations. We stopped to take pictures of rice paddies terraced on the side of a mountain. Obviously another tourist site as the moment we stopped we were surrounded by hawkers selling their wares. As we left I decided to buy a carved wooden box that contained five pairs of chopsticks. Only three dollars, but a big mistake. The moment I indicated I would make the purchase, all the other hawkers came running toward us and became very aggressive, shouting and shoving things in my face. I was barely able to get in the car. They crowded so close I was unable to shut the door. When I reached for the handle I accidentally hit one woman in the stomach and she became very angry. When I was bale to close the door and we moved away, she made an angry gesture at me. I will be more careful when I but things on the street. The driver told me I should have only paid two dollars though the hawker had started at ten.
It was a good day. We enjoyed a nice meal and crashed early.
Monday August 27:
We decided to go to Lembongan Island, a small island just west of Bali. I was still searching for the white sands of Siesta Beach. We had asked several times and had gotten different information on how to get there. “The ferry leaves only in the afternoon.” “The fast boat is at 8Am and 3PM.” We had the hotel call and found that if we left immediately, we could catch the ferry, so we did. We took a taxi to Samur, bought ferry tickets, and carried all our luggage about 100 yards down the beach to where the ferry was anchored. It was not on a pier, just in the water and it was difficult to board because of the waves moving the boat about. We had to wade into the water to get on board. The crew took our bags, carried them ten feet to the boat and then wanted a tip of 10,000 rupiah (about a dollar). If they had carried our bags the 100 yards along the beach they would have deserved a dollar.
The ride to Lembongan took about an hour and a half. It was uneventful but exciting. Clear blue water and clear sky overhead. There were huge swells of ten to fifteen feet. You could look down at the horizon and then it would disappear behind a wall of water. But the boat rose and fell smoothly. You could see how a fisherman at sea would not realize that he had been lifted by a gentle swell that would become a tsunami wave and cause so much destruction on shore. As we approached the island waves were crashing in the the rocks sending water splashing up twenty to thirty feet up the side of the cliff. Such force! What power could withstand it? It was beautiful to watch. As the waves began to break, they would change color from a deep blue to a teal just before they turned to foam.
We landed on the beach (I carried my bags) and the hawkers began to attach themselves to us, telling about hotels and dive trips. One told us the cheap hotels were “this way” and walked with us. We stopped at the first and bartered for a good price. We should have asked more questions. We got a room on the beach for $7 per night per person a big shower and a fan but no air conditioning and no fresh water.
We walked along the beach which was soft, brown sand and difficult to walk on. There was a lot of debris on the beach, plastic bags, shoes, batteries, etc. and I was surprised that the local would not clean it up every day. The beach was lined with small restaurants and cottages made of concrete block. The water is very shallow for one fifty to two hundred yards out from shore and then there is a line where the waves break. The breakers are regular, uniform and big, maybe eight to twelve feet. They must be good for surfing as there were always a group of surfers plying their skills.
We had lunch on the beach and then took a nap, read and rested. It was not too hot but we were tired. In the late afternoon, we walked down to the beach to watch the sunset. The tide was out and the land was exposed for about a hundred yards out. Boats that had been floating were now sitting on land and tilted to one side. The locals were out harvesting seaweed which is the major export crop here. They had placed stakes in the ground to catch the seaweed as it was washed in by the waves. The land was still moist and was very green as a result of the exposed seaweed. They filled huge woven baskets and carried two at a time balanced on a bamboo pole on their shoulder. The seaweed was they sorted (they seemed to separate the good from the bad but I was never able to figure out what constituted good or bad) and then dried it in the sun. The sunset was spectacular. Beautiful colors. Red and yellow and orange and pink. We took lots of pictures. Men in long, narrow boats filled with piles of seaweed poled their way across the shallows and made great silhouettes against the setting sun.
We had a quiet dinner with several beers. We arranged a snorkeling trip for the next morning with a guy who constantly made lame jokes but but thought they were hysterical. We enjoyed a full moon as we walked back to our cottage. It was high Season for Lembongan but, surprisingly, there were almost no “no vacancy” signs on the cottages and the restaurants were never crowded.
Tuesday August 28
After an “American Breakfast” (as advertised on the menu) of eggs, toast, bacon, ham, butter, jam, coffee and fruit,we took our first snorkeling trip. It was fantastic!! Maybe the best snorkeling I’ve ever done. Two different locations. The first was a wall dive (snorkel) on Nusa Penida, a small island next to Lenbongan. We jumped in the water near a steep cliff and drifted slowly with the current. We could see maybe twenty or thirty feet down a slope beneath us before it dropped off into a deep channel between the islands. There were many, many fish of many varieties and an abundance of beautiful coral. We drifted for over an hour and there was no one else in sight. It was marvelous. Can’t tell you what all I saw but I’m sure i saw many fish I had never seen before. The most amazing sight was an electric blue (the girls said periwinkle, if that means anything to you women. Guys don’t know what color periwinkle is). Anyway it was beautiful. It was about six inches in diameter and the arms didn’t taper to a point but were th same size to the end, like five pieces of a blue garden hos joined together.
The second dive was back at Lembongan just out from a stand of mangroves and beyond the seaweed beds. The reef was just below us anywhere from two to five meters. We could dive down and get close to everything. It was spectacular. Occasionally, we were in schools of small fish who reflected sunlight in sparkling colors. It looked like it was “raining fish”. I picked up a blue starfish, had a picture made and the returned it to the sea.
Back at the cottage we showered in saltwater (not my favorite thing) changed, had lunch, napped, read and rested. In the late afternoon, we went to the beach to get pictures of the sunset. We walked out into the seaweed beds which were in one to six inches of water. There were stakes with strings tied between to catch the seaweed and the locals were there harvesting the day’s catch. In the shallow water, we saw blue starfish, tapered starfish with what looked like big warts, starfish the size of one inch sanddollars with five tiny, fragile legs that looked like centipedes, urchins, and long (two feet) worm like creatures with mouths that seemed to be lined with feathers (strange looking). Met a guy named Carlton Ward who was there working on his thesis. He was a freelance photographer and had worked for National Geographic. Told us to look at his pictures on www.carltonward.com. Got more beautiful pictures of the sunset.
Had dinner and beer overlooking the sea and decided to stay another night. Too good to leave though we would have given a lot to have a shower in fresh water.
Wednesday August 29:
Another American breakfast and another snorkeling trip. This time to Crystal Bay, a small cove on Nusa Penida. The sea was rough, the sky was cloudy and there was a lot of surge that kept moving us around. But the snorkeling was great even with the lessened visibility. It would have been almost impossible to have done a wall dive. The water was a little colder making it a little difficult to stay long. Just as we left two boats arrived with about a dozen Japanese divers in wet suits equipped with high tech underwater photographic equipment. Would love to see the pictures they took. The second dive was near the mangroves again but in a different area, and even better than the day before. Saw what I found out later to be a Unicorn Fish. Yes, it had a protrusion the size of my finger coming out of its forehead. Many, many beautiful, colorful fish.
Back to Lembongan for a saltwater shower and lunch. Lay on the beach for a while to get some sun and napped in the afternoon. That evening, we walked through the small village on our way to dinner and some beer. Small shops offering only the bare essentials. No big name brands here.
Thursday August 30:
Caught the 8:30 boat back to Samur on Bali, the same boat that at sundown the night before had been lying on its side in shallow water but was afloat in the morning tide. The trip was easy with only gentle swells and there were no big waves crashing against the rocks. I was disappointed as I wanted to get some pictures. We caught the shuttle bus back to Kuta and walk a couple of blocks to the Melasti Hotel. No reason to search for something new when we had a good thing. We spent most of the afternoon relaxing by the pool and enjoying fresh water showers. What a pleasure it was to wash away three days of saltwater. That evening, we hired a driver to take us to Uluwatu, a temple perched high on a cliff overlooking the Indian Ocean. The setting was spectacular. As the temple was quite some distance from town, our driver agreed to stay with us as long as we liked and bring us back for a reasonable price. We paid the entry fee and were given gold ribbons to wear to show respect for the temple. The girls were given sarongs. The driver went into the temple grounds with us, explaining that if he were along the guides would not try to attach themselves to us. He told we would see monkeys and to be very careful as they were adept at stealing glasses and hats and scarves and even cameras from tourists. I tucked my glasses inside my shirt. We arrived a little before sunset and walked along a walled path on the edge of the cliff which must have dropped 500 to 700 feet into the ocean. Waves were rolling in and crashing against the shore. We were mesmerized by the beauty of the setting, so mesmerized that Colleen barely noticed when a monkey pulled the hair tie from her hair and started chewing on it. We realized there were monkeys everywhere running up and down the wall coming very close to the visitors. We became very cautious but continued to enjoy the beautiful views. Other tourists weren’t so cautious as we saw monkeys rob them of sunglasses and scarves and anything else not attached. They had tried to sell us food to feed the monkeys at the entrance but we had declined. Now we got to see the real reason for the food. When one lady lost what looked like an expensive pair of sunglasses, an experienced guide took some food and presented it to the monkey thief and lured him closer. Then he tossed the food within reach of the monkey who dropped the glasses and grabbed the food. The guide quickly retrieved the glasses and gave them to the appreciative woman. We saw this act of kidnap and ransom repeated several times during our brief visit. Obviously the monkeys had figured out a surefire way to be fed.
We couldn’t actually go into the temple but got pictures of the temple, the cliffs, the sunset and the monkeys. The temple was built in the 11th century and is very sacred to the Balinese due to its location on a narrow promontory and the fact that it is dedicated to the spirits of the sea. We attended a traditional dance in an open air theater on the temple grounds. Very similar to the last one in telling the story of good versus evil with colorful costumes, kings and queens, a monkey god, various dragons, etc. The biggest difference was a chorus of men in sarongs seated in a circle who chanted rhythmically throughout. The rhythms changed somewhat with the entrance of different characters and the chorus sometimes rose and moved around but they never left the stage. It was better than the fist show we had seem but both seemed to be a little long. Afterward we had our pictures made with various characters from the performance who were happy to pose for the cameras.
Our driver took us back to town where we bought some bread and goodies from the bakery and turned in early. Another great day in Bali.
Friday August 31:
Our last full day in Bali and we did very little. We slept late, had a leisurely breakfast, and headed to the beach. There was a big surf and lots of surfers were enjoying it. I went into the water had great difficulty just staying afloat. The waves were rolling in and were powerful. In the short time I was in the water, I was almost exhausted just fighting the waves and the the undertow. When Julia went in, I stood on the beach close to the water in case she got into trouble. She was repeatedly belted about and knocked over but she loved it. Later she got a massage from one of the ladies right there on the beach. A manicure and pedicure were also available but she passed.
Had a sandwich for lunch and spent the afternoon at the pool. Total relaxation. Wrote post cards and got them in the mail on this our last full day in Bali.
Saturday September 1:
Our last day. No plans. Had to check out by noon but the flight wasn’t until late in the afternoon. We left our luggage in the hotel reception and went shopping. Had lunch but then went out by the pool again where we spent the afternoon soaking up that last bit of sunshine. We showered at the pool and dressed in the bathroom. We didn’t want to miss a minute of that beautiful weather in that beautiful location.
The hotel got a cab for us. We had it timed perfectly to get to the airport for our flight. What we hadn’t counted on was the cab being headed in the wrong direction, unable to turn around, getting caught in a traffic jam, and then following a circuitous route which finally got us to the airport. We were slightly panicked and somewhat irritable as we rushed to the check-in and the gate. We made it with a little time to spare. Just enough to get something to eat. Something to eat being cookies and crackers, nothing healthy or nourishing. We would have to settle for airline food, which on Air Asia is less than appetizing unless you like noodles or tuna sandwiches that only provide the odor of tuna, no hint of the real thing.
All in all, it was an outstanding trip. We had a wonderful time and would recommend it to anyone. Bali is Indonesia like Key West is Florida. Part of the whole but entirely different. The temples, the designs of the religious structures were completely different from anything we had seen before. More geometric than ornate. More reserved than flamboyant. Monotone rather than colorful. The people were very friendly and helpful, happy to have tourists, hoping that the tourist industry would return to it previous level before the explosion in the restaurant that killed so many people. There is much to see. Much more than we could have taken in during the short time we were there. It’s on my list of places that deserve a return visit.
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