6/03/10 – 6/05/10 (sanur)

Sanur – Kuala Lumpur

We keep telling ourselves not to book 6am flights since they can be a bit brutal to wake up so early in the morning and usually our travel days takes up the whole day. But sometimes they are the cheapest flights so it is a hard choice. Our driver picked us up at 4:30am for our flight to Kuala Lumpur (KL). It was our first flight on Air Asia, which is the budget airline most people use to travel around southeast Asia. For such an early morning flight the plane was pretty packed. There were quite a few Muslim females in Bali and Lombok wearing headdresses but none in complete headdress covered from head to toe with only their eyes showing. There was a woman on our flight who had on the black headdress from head to toe with only her eyes showing. Because every part of her body was covered you really took notice to her eyes, which were hazel. I felt bad staring at her but it was more out of curiosity about her faith and culture. For example, I wondered if the airport security would ask her take off her headdress when she pass through the security gates and at what age do they start wearing one. It made me realize how little I knew about their society and wished I could ask her some questions.

After a short flight we were in KL and headed to our hotel. When we arrived at our hotel we were informed that our reservation had not been confirmed and they were fully booked since it was the school holiday season. After a frustrated battle we were able to get a room at the discounted internet rate. Later we found out that we had entered the wrong dates for our reservation and they sent us an email asking us to correct our dates. Oops. We felt bad that we caused such a scene in the lobby and smiled warmly at reception every time we passed by.

We stayed in Bukit Bintang, a pretty busy part of town with people offering massages all along the road and at night the food market was bustling. One night we had dinner at one of the night markets. The restaurant tables spilled out onto the road and the police had to ask some restaurants to put away some of their tables because it was blocking the traffic. Every place tried to entice you with their menu and since the cooking was done outside the aroma from the food permeated the streets. There were also fruit stalls and I was very excited to see my favorite fruit called the wax apple. I loved eating the wax apple as a kid in Taiwan and before leaving KL we bought some for our bus trip.

We visited the Petronas Towers, which is a major icon in KL and at one time was the tallest building in the world. We went at dusk and saw the lights come on around the building. There was also a mall with about five floors dedicated to any kind of electronics you could ever want. Jon was a kid in a candy store and I’m sure he would’ve been quite content staying there all day and night.

One of the craziest experiences we had was booking our bus to Cameron Highlands. The bus depot was under construction so it was temporarily moved to the outskirt of the city. We had to take several trains to get there and the depot wasn’t like anything we had ever seen. There were about fifty bus companies each with their own booth crammed into a small building. When you walked in all of them started yelling at you to come visit their booth. All the companies offered similar routes and prices so it was really hard to decide which one to pick. We finally picked one based on the departure time that suited our schedule.

Another interesting observation is the huge Chinese population in Malaysia and many of them speak a dialect called Fu Kinese (don’t know the correct spelling) which sounds a lot like Taiwanese. Most people I encountered spoke Malay Chinese, a slightly different dialect of Mandarin, but we were still able to converse quite comfortably.

6/1/10 – 6/2/10 (candi dasa)

Candi Dasa – Sidemen – Candi Dasa – Sanur

We had one last place we wanted to check out before leaving Candi Dasa. We heard there was a really pretty drive along the town of Sidemen where there were big rice paddies. To get to Sidemen we had to get on the highway, which was pretty exciting since we had never been on one with our motorbike. There weren’t many cars on the road so it was a pleasant drive. It took us awhile to find Sidemen since there weren’t a lot of signs and we only had a vague idea of where it was. It also didn’t appear that many Westerners visited the area. We finally found the town and discovered quite a few boutique hotels tucked away alongside the rice paddies. There was a hotel called Uma Agung that was very peaceful and had a nice dining area overlooking the paddies. We wished we had found the place earlier since it would’ve been nice to stay there for a few days. It was nicely decorated and had an infinity pool, which made the place soothing and relaxing. We would highly recommend anyone looking for a quiet place to relax to stay at any of the accommodations in Sidemen. The only thing would be that the area is not touristy at all so there aren’t a lot of choices for meals except local foods though I imagine you can eat at the other hotels.

On our way back we stopped at Goa Lawah, one of the nine directional temples. It was the temple’s birthday so there was a large crowd of people dressed in traditional Balinese clothing bringing offerings to the temple. We were wearing shorts so we had to borrow a sarong and sash from the temple. There was a grassy area where everyone sat listening to drummers and then at some point everyone got up to enter the center of the temple to present their offerings. I think we were asked not to enter because we weren’t in traditional clothing or maybe because we didn’t bring any offerings. Who knows. Either way it was still pretty cool to check out the procession and see so many families in traditional attire.

The next day we got ready to head to Sanur where we were spending our last day in Bali before heading to Malaysia. We were a bit sad to leave Candi Dasa since we had a lot of fun exploring the area. We hired a driver to take us to Sanur which was only an hour or so away. The drive was like being an extended Indiana Jones adventure ride since there was major road construction all along the way. We were glad when the ride was over. We found a quiet little home stay on the outskirts of Sanur. The place was really nicely set up with only eight rooms and a pool in the middle. After we got settled in we asked our host for a lunch recommendation. Somewhere in the middle of the conversation he mentioned there was a Dunkin Donuts shop in town and we were hooked. We hadn’t eaten Dunkin Donuts in ages since they are only on the east coast. The only challenge was that we had to walk about twenty minutes to get to it and it was in the middle of the day when the humidity was at its worst. After walking for only a few minutes I wondered if we would even make it since we were both on the brink of passing out from the humidity. But luckily the thought of donuts kept us going. I can’t tell you how good it felt to walk into the donut shop not because of the smell of sweet delicious donuts but because the a/c was on full blast. The odd thing about the shop was that they had a huge portrait of people eating Dunkin Donuts in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. I guess no one told them that we couldn’t get those donuts on the west coast. We got our sugar fix and were ready to grab a real lunch. 

We learned our lesson and grabbed a taxi when we were ready to head back to our home stay. We thought about checking out Sanur since it’s supposed to have nice white sandy beaches but we just wanted to relax by our pool on our last day in Bali. I was able to sit out by the pool for about ten minutes before it started to sprinkle. I was reluctant to leave the pool since I had been looking forward to it all day but then the staff started taking away the seat cushions and I felt pressured to give up my cushion. At least we were able to relax on our balcony watching the rain.

Since we had a late lunch we weren’t hungry till late in the evening and had very little options for food since many of the places nearby were already closed. We spent our last night in Bali eating instant noodles, drinking Bintang, and playing a game of Scrabble on our balcony. Could’ve been worse.

5/31/10 (candi dasa)

Candi Dasa – Amlapura – Candi Dasa

When we arrived in Candi Dasa we found out there was no ATM in town and we had to drive to the next town to access an ATM. We passed through the town yesterday but were too tired to search for it and figured we would do it today. Lesson learned…always take care of something right then and there. We drove to Amlapura in search of an ATM machine. When we found it a French couple approached us asking for assistance because the machine wasn’t working and they couldn’t read English very well. After a few attempts with both of our ATM cards we realized that the machine was either out of money or not functioning. We were told there was a bank not too far away so the French couple followed us there. We tried the machine at that bank only to find out they don’t accept Visa cards. The personnel at that bank told us to go to another bank down the street. When we got to second bank we explained we couldn’t access the money at the ATM machine. A staff explained that the ATM is out of money and someone will come out and replenish it in half an hour. We couldn’t get money out from the branch itself since they don’t have card machines. Apparently there is only one ATM machine in the Amlapura area that will accept Visa cards. So again the two tourist couples go back to the first ATM machine and wait. Luckily we still had some cash and could’ve returned the next day but it was such an ordeal that we decided to wait for someone to come replenish the machine. After waiting forty minutes someone finally came. By this time five other tourists had joined the line. Thank goodness we were in front of the line. I am not sure how much they were going to replenish the machine but I would’ve hated to be the one when the machine ran out of money again. Finally we got the cash we needed and by this time it was too late to go anywhere so we decided to head back to Candi Dasa.

Once again when we got back to our home stay we ordered a cold Bintang to cool us down. It’s hard to say no when it only costs a little more than two dollars for a big bottle of cold beer. We got some snacks across the street and enjoyed our afternoon drink on our porch.

All over Bali we had seen people pushing carts of meatball soup called bakso. I wanted to try it before we left Bali so we asked the staff at the hotel where we could find bakso. Apparently, it is one of the food staples and very common at the night markets. Luckily there was a night market near our hotel. There were about 10 food stalls and more than half of them were selling bakso. It was hard to choose one since they all looked the same so I picked the one that had two smiling girls working with their dad. The soup consisted of a broth, tofu, noodles, and some sort of meatballs. It was pretty tasty though I could’ve done without the meatballs. The only gripe I had with the dad was that he tried to charge me twice as much. When I told him that everyone charges 5000 rupiahs he reluctantly agreed that I was right.

Jon wasn’t a fan of the soup so he found some noodles stall and while we were a bit worried about getting stomach aches later the noodles was one of the tastier dishes we had while in Candi Dasa.

5/30/10 (candi dasa)

Candi Dasa – Tulamben – Candi Dasa

I think the giant gecko staying with us in Sengiggi followed us to Candi Dasa because I heard him or her all night. There are tiny geckos which don’t make any noise and you see them all around. But then there are these enormous ones with a really big head that makes a weird noise at night. The rumor is that if they bite you then it’s a trip to the hospital. Our driver in Lombok told us his brother got bitten by one and had to go to the hospital. When we asked a staff at our home stay in Candi Dasa about the vicious geckos he just laughed. I am not exactly comforted by his nonchalant attitude. We will have to survey more people to dispel the rumor.

Aside from the geckos our home stay has a really lush garden in the center with coconut and banana trees all around. When you walk outside the room you feel like you are in the middle of a fruit jungle. We are also steps away from the ocean with a relaxing verandah overlooking the bay.

After lounging around a bit in the morning we decided to rent a motorbike…our favorite mode of transportation around Bali. Usually before we take off on our bike we let our host know where we are going and ask for advice of things to see along the way. I think they are very cautious with foreigners on motorbikes because it’s always a big ordeal before we are allowed to take off. They make sure we put on our helmets and repeatedly tell us to take it slow. It’s very endearing. Good thing we didn’t tell them we have already gotten in a motorbike accident. They probably wouldn’t let us on a bike. 

We made our way northeast and were hoping to stop at Tirtagangga to check out a Water Palace but then realized we passed it. Bali is pretty small and it’s never very far from one place to another. I think people always tell us it’s going to take longer than it really does. Instead we decided to stop at the palace on the way back and instead took a break at a home stay in Tirtagangga for lunch, which had a nice view of rice paddies. We just can’t get enough of rice paddies! We decided to make a run for Tulamben since it is supposed to have a nice view of Gunung Agung, the highest and holiest mountain in Bali. We passed some of the most beautiful rice paddies I had ever seen on the way to Tulamben. It wasn’t as high as some of the ones we had seen around Ubud but it was very green and where we stopped had a wide panoramic view of them. When we reached Tulamben we decided that Amed (beach city along the east coast) had a nicer view of the mountain so we headed back to catch a time-lapse video in the middle of a rice field. 

It’s always funny to see people’s reaction to Jon on the bike. We probably make a pretty hilarious picture. Jon carries his tripod/dolly case on his back and it balances on my legs. I hold on for dear life to Jon with his camera backpack and my purse on my back. I am just tall enough to see over his shoulder, as I like to be a backseat driver and make sure he’s taking it slow. It makes the kids giggle with laughter when we wave to them. Some of the adults have a perplexed look on their face as they are trying to figure out what’s going on with us. At least we make a memorable impression on the locals.

After Jon finished his shot in Amed we started to head back to Tirtagangga since the sun was beginning to set. We found the Water Palace, which proved to be pretty amazing. It was built by a man who was infatuated with water fountains, ponds, basically anything to do with water. When you first walk in there are two big ponds full of coy fish. I had never seen coy fish that big. There were some people feeding entire slices of bread to the fish. They threw a slice of bread into the pond and all the fish would jump on top of each other to grab the bread. Talk about carb overload!

As the sun was setting we made our way back to our home stay. On days when we are on the motorbike it seems to wear us out. We enjoyed a cold Bintang (Indo local beer) on our front porch while deciding what to do about dinner. Candi Dasa is another sleepy town with not much tourists so the restaurants have people stand on the street trying to persuade guests to come in. It becomes a bit overwhelming deciding where to eat since everyone is pulling at you from every direction. We decided to just go to the first restaurant next to our hotel to avoid the drama. I would say we had an average meal but at the end they brought us a complimentary shot of arak with two flowers to put above our ears. We had arak in Sengiggi but it was a mixed with lime and soda water. The straight up arak was very strong and not something I really enjoyed.

5/25/10 - 5/29/10 (senggigi)

Senggigi - Kuta(Lombok) - Candi Dasa

Five nights in Lombok, the less developed neighbor to the East of Bali. The main draw to the Lombok area is the Gili Islands know for snorkeling during the day and partying by night. We were also interested in visiting the local volcano called Ringani. Senggigi is one of the islands larger cities south of the Gili’s and we thought it would be a good base of operations. Senggigi turned out to be quite a sleepy town built for tourists without actually having many. We ended up having our pick of many empty restaurants geared for Westerners and Australians. We were eagerly greeted by anxious hostesses trying to pull us in for a cheap meal. While snorkeling was on the original agenda we decided the salt water probably wasn’t the cure for several of my open wounds from our Ubud motor bike accident. We agreed to save it for a better locations such as Southern Thailand and instead rented a motorbike to explore the surrounding area. The best cure for a little motor bike anxiety is to get back on the horse. Annie had read in the Rough Guide that the drive up to the Gili’s from Senggigi was a highlight and so we hit the road. The drive proved to be pretty fantastic and was lined with dramatic ocean cliffs, lush rice fields, and swaying palm trees. We made it up to the harbor where many of the Gili fast boats docked and stopped into a local cafe for a cold beverage on this hot day. We ended up meeting a local tour boat coordinator and got into a lively discussion about the differences in marriage between the US and Lombok. In Lombok, instead of asking the father for permission, you instead go to head of the village for his blessing. 

While in Senggigi, I also got to work on my haggling skill-set and opened negotiations with and eleven year old for a pair of knock off sun glasses. You have to hand it to the little man, he was tenacious and all about customer service searching the entire town for the exact pair I had requested. In the end I had a hard time justifying purchasing the glasses after an initial cleaning that scratched them beyond being useful. Annie and I also met a really nice family that ran the local internet hub. I have to say my one vice on this trip has been staying up to date with Lost and our time in Senggigi coincided with the series finale of this program. It has been a real challenge to navigate the internet and download these rather large episodes and it was a bit of a relief to have the end near. The finale was two and half hours and proved to take and incredible amount of time to download. Fortunately, the owners had two kids who took a liking to our scrabble letters and entertained us for significant portions of these long download sessions. As for Lost, a bit of a let down for all the work required!

After a few days, Annie and I started to get antsy and had heard nice things about Kuta Lombok on the southern center of the island and thought maybe a change of scenery would be welcome. We decided to forego the Ringani multi day hike due to time constraints and instead check out Kuta. I coordinated a driver named Ogi who agreed to show us some sights on the drive down. Ogi took us to a traditional sasak weaving village and we were instantly greeted by a guide who showed us around. She told us there are 500 peopling that live in this self sufficient village and they are supported through the weaving of the women. The women work for twelve hours each day, every day of the year and each weaved garment is uniquely designed. The guide even got Annie involved in the weaving process and then made a very strong pitch for us to purchase. While they were beautiful, both Annie and I didn’t really have a use for these items and tipped the guide and escaped back to the car. We enjoyed the visit but could have done without the heavy sales pitch. 

We arrived in Kuta, midday and soon found a hotel to drop off our baggage. We hit the road in search of some lunch and after a short walk, stumbled upon Cafe 7. Kuta turned out to be a small fishing village and not nearly as developed as Senggigi. The main road runs along the beach with one side lined with modest hotels and the beach side has many grass hut shops. Kuta is also known as a surfing town and this was target audience for Cafe 7. It was easily the newest place in the area with a gazebo structure and grass thatched roof. We felt instantly comfortable with a mix of indonesian and western foods. After some conversation with the staff we met the owner Tengko. He had a reggae style and laid back vibe cultivated with ten years living in Europe before returning to Lombok. We soon discovered he was a good man to know in town and could set us up with whatever we needed. He quickly coordinated a motor bike and made several suggestions as to places we should check out. He also told us to return for dinner because they would be featuring live local music. We finished up lunch and headed out via motor bike to explore Kuta.

Over the next few days we drove all over the Kuta exploring the local beaches. My comfort level on the motor bike was getting better after the accident and it was severely tested on the local roads. I have never seen such tattered roads lined with hundreds of pot holes and often demising in dirt and gravel. We were often stopped by local live stock including chickens, pigs, and the occasional herd of water buffalos. We returned to Cafe 7 for some lively Indonesian surf music and discovered an all organic hill top cafe called Ashanti with breath taking views of the coastline. Kuta turned out to be a great decision and gave me a sense of the lifestyle out of a classic 60’s surf movie based in Mexico. After a few days we were ready to return to Bali and coordinated a bus back to the slow boat that would take us to Candi Dasa. 

The main thing that was put into perspective from our trip to Lombok was how fortunate we are in the United States. Lombok has big aspirations with the build of their international airport that will open next year but has a ways to go to catch up to Bali. We were surprised to see some of the local markets and I will long remember the smell that went along with them. Most of roads are filled with as many horse and buggies as they are motor bikes. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it did help us appreciate how plentiful our home really is. 

5/24/10 (ubud)

Ubud – Padang Bai – Lembar – Senggigi

We left our home stay early in the morning to catch our 7am Perama bus to Padang Bai. The ride to Padang Bai was pretty quiet as most people went back to sleep. When we arrived at Padang Bai we were told that we needed to wait an hour before we could board the ferry. After an hour we were directed to the loading dock but the ferry hadn’t arrived. We waited another hour before we saw a glimpse of the ferry coming. I guess they don’t call it the slow boat for nothing. We could’ve opted for the fast boat, which takes over an hour but it was $100 more. Once we boarded the ferry it chugged along to Lombok for four hours. I hadn’t realized till Jon told me that Lombok was only 35 km from Bali so you can imagine how slow the ferry was going. There were very basic seating on the ferry and it also transported big cargo trucks. There were mats you can rent to sleep on and snacks/drinks to purchase. Once we arrived in Lembar we hopped on a Perama bus to Senggigi. There weren’t that many people so we were able to spread out on the bus since there was no air-conditioning.

Once we arrived in Senggig we were exhausted and hungry since we hadn’t eaten anything all day except for some crackers. But we couldn’t relax yet. We hadn’t booked a place to stay so Jon walked around town scoping out hotels while I made a few phone calls. We found a hotel, Mascot Beach Resort, near the Perama station that offered decent accommodations for a reasonable price. There were some very nice hotels but we were trying to stay within a good budget. The rooms were a bit run down but it offered air-conditioning and hot water and it was right at the beach. It was a nice luxury to have some a/c since our home stay in Ubud only had a ceiling fan.

After we settled in our room we walked down the main street for some dinner. We found a nice little restaurant called Angels. Then we dropped off our laundry at a scuba dive shop that also offers laundry service. Even though we didn’t do much except sit on a bus or ferry we were beat and ready for a good night sleep. 

5/23/10 (ubud)

Ubud – Penelokan – Ubud

Today was our final full day in Ubud. We had to forgo climbing Gunung Batur since we were both still recovering from our motorbike accident. Most people start at the base around 2am to catch the sunrise at the top of the mountain. It takes about two to three hours to reach the top. Even though we were really bummed about not being able to do the climb we still wanted to see a sunrise over the volcanic mountain. We made arrangements with Suma to take us at 5am just before sunrise to a town called Penelokan. When we arrived we were surprised at how chilly it was. It was even cold enough to put on a jacket. The sun was just coming up as Jon set up his time-lapse video.

Right next to the still active volcanic mountain is another mountain though smaller and a river in between. We were quite a ways from the mountain and could see small villages at the base of the mountain. To our left was Gunung Agung, the highest peak in Bali. The sky was scattered with patches of red, orange, and yellow. It was a beautiful view.

However, with the blink of an eye a thick layer of fog engulfed the tip of the mountain. Jon had to stop his video since the humidity was fogging up his camera and the fog was so thick we could barely see anything. We were really bummed. No one knew if the fog would dissipate. The man who ran a coffee shop nearby assured us that the fog would be gone after we got a hot drink. We decided to take his advice and wait it out for a little bit. After about fifteen minutes it did seem that the fog was thinning and we could see the tip of the mountain again. Jon decided to give the time-lapse another try but after a few minute the fog rolled back in again. We decided it was time for us to leave. For that brief moment when we caught the sun rising above the fog and clouds it was a pretty spectacular view.

We arrived back at our home stay around 9am and after lounging around a bit it was time to write our backlog of daily updates. We hadn’t written any since we arrived in Ubud and decided before we leave we need to get caught up or be too far behind. After we finished writing our updates we grabbed lunch and posted the updates on our blog. Even while traveling we’ve learned that procrastination doesn’t pay off when we let our blog fall by the waist side.

After lunch we headed to the Perama station to buy our tickets to Lombok, an island east of Bali. We heard that Lombok is more laid back and not as busy as Bali. The ex-pats we met the other night highly recommended Lombok and said there were some great surf spots. Getting to Lombok wasn’t going to be easy. We had to take an hour long bus to Padang Bai, a four hour slow ferry to Lembar, and then an hour and a half bus ride to Sengiggi. We started to get mentally prepared for the trip.

When we returned to our home stay we packed our bags and snapped some photos and video of the place. Originally we had only intended on staying for three nights but ended up extending to five nights. We were a bit sad to leave the place. While we weren’t going to miss the roosters croaking all day long we really enjoyed our stay. Our hosts were very hospitable and did everything to make sure our stay was comfortable. They even had a table brought in from somewhere for Jon to use in our room because they noticed he was using a small nightstand as his computer table.

We chose our home stay because we wanted a different experience and it was the top choice on trip advisor. I usually take the ratings on trip advisor with a grain of salt but this time I have to stay they were pretty spot on. We got to stay in the middle of rice fields and though they didn’t have air conditioning the other amenities were more than we expected. It was located just off the main strip so close enough for us to walk to restaurants. We would consider staying there again if the farmer figures out a way to quiet the roosters. 

Sawah Sunrise Bed and Breakfast – Ubud

Host: Suma (Mary actually owns the home stay but Suma runs it while she is away)

081-337-229-247 (cell) or 361-318-2740 (home)

For a small fee of 20,000 rupiah he will pick you up from the Perama bus station.

We also recommend renting a motorbike from Suma’s friend though I don’t remember his name. He only operates in the Ubud area and will bring the bike to your accommodations. He charged us $70/day (including insurance for up to $200 US dollar). We later found out that you don’t really need the insurance and haven’t gotten it when we have rented motorbikes again. He was a little bummed we scratched his bike since it was brand new but we worked out a deal and paid him $20 for the minor scratches. Overall he was a cool guy.

Surya Transport – car and motorbike rental

Dagus_gony@hotmail.com or 085-237-260-646 (cell)

5/22/10 (ubud)

Ubud

Today was Kuningan for the Balinese people. Kuningan is the most important day in the Galungan festival that lasts ten days and takes place every 210 days according to the Waku calendar. The festival celebrates the victory of good over evil and all the ancestral souls are thought to visit earth. Families gather together on this day to pray and make offerings as the souls of the ancestors return to heaven. 

Annie and I had plans of getting up early to visit the temple on this holy day but were moving a little slow due to the prior days motor bike accident. Annie had a banged up knee and I was limping around with some soreness in my foot and calve. We met with Noyman at the gazebo to eat our breakfast and met a couple from New Zealand who had arrived the prior night. The couple had just gotten to Bali and were from Wellington but when they returned home, they will live in Cooper’s Beach. CB is very near to where our friends Pete and Danielle live and we had a lot of fun rehashing our adventures in New Zealand. I was feeling a little tired and decided to lay down for a short nap before heading out. Annie joined me and the next thing we knew it was 1pm and we had missed the temple ceremonies. We were a little bummed but justified it by having seen so many cool things the day before. 

We hopped on the motor bike for one last ride of redemption and were off to lunch. We had a nice lunch at Cafe Wayan, the oldest restaurant in Ubud and decided to leave on Monday to head to Lombok via the ferry. When we returned to Sawah, we arranged a transport with Suma to visit Danau Batur to watch the sunrise at this active volcano. Suma also scheduled a trip to the local healer to work on my ailments.

For the next few hours Annie and I worked on updating the blog and got a little more organized for our remaining time in Bali. It was nice to relax a bit and we spent most of the time in the gazebo chatting with Noyman and some of the new guests. When Suma returned we left on the motor bike for the local healer. The healer was fairly close to our home stay off the main road of Ubud. When we pulled up it was quickly apparent that they don’t get a lot of big white guys visiting because I was causing quite a scene in this all balinese neighborhood. We went to a back alley lined with several small children and even more roosters and they introduced me to the healer. He was a small Balinese man with discolored teeth and a friendly quality about him. I was asked to point out the painful areas. Some of the locals gathered around and there was much laughing probably at my expense and the healer went to work. He began by wetting his hands with an dark oily substance in an old water bottle. It looked like a bottle filled with chewing tobacco spit. He massaged the oil into my aching muscles and worked the sore areas for several minutes. He then combined the oil with what looked like a coarse salt and continued the treatment. After twenty very painful minutes I was asked to walk around and I was feeling better. The pain had subsided a bit and the healer said I had misaligned my foot during the accident and that it wasn’t broken. I felt a little relieved to hear this diagnosis. I paid the healer and Suma and I returned to the home stay. After a little teasing from Annie, we were off to dinner and then an early night to bed. I am hopeful that the healers treatment will help me navigate the volcano tomorrow.

5/21/10 (ubud)

Ubud – Pujung Kelod – Ubud

After a small hiccup with the motorbike yesterday we were feeling confident again and decided to venture out of Ubud. Suma suggested a nice drive up north, which passed through some terrace rice paddies and temples. We were quite a sight on the motorbike with Jon driving and carrying his tripod/slider bag on his back while having it balanced on my knees. I was sitting behind Jon with his camera bag on my back and my bag across my shoulders. We were well balanced and ready for our ride.

It felt good to be on the road with the wind blowing in our faces. We left the city and headed into more traditional villages. We got lots of looks from people as we drove by. We passed the terrace rice paddies and decided to continue on to see if there were more of them. We probably drove another twenty minutes and passed a turn off to a temple. There lots of women walking toward the temple dressed in traditional Balinese clothing with a tower of fruit/food offerings on their head. The tower had several different layers consisting of fruit, little yogurt drinks, and flower and coconut leave decorations. It was really pretty and I can only imagine how heavy it was for them to hold it on top of their head. The women didn’t seem to mind at all and walked gracefully on the road. We drove up and down the street to try to catch one of the women to snap a photo but didn’t disturb their routine. We met an elderly woman coming out of her house and asked if we could snap some photos. She happily agreed and as she walked away I noticed there was a cooked chicken in the back of the offering tower. I couldn’t help but snap another photo.

We drove north on the road for another fifteen minutes and later realized we were probably only fifteen to twenty minutes away from the volcanic mountain, Gunung Batur. We decided to head back to the terrace rice paddies we passed since we didn’t see any more up the road. The terrace is caused by volcanic eruptions so the fields are staggered on the side of the mountain. It looks as if there are many different levels of rice fields. We decided to stop at one of the restaurants overlooking the terrace for a drink. As we were leaving there were car loads of tourists arriving to capture a glimpse of the rice fields. 

We headed back up north before turning off on a side road. Just a few meters on the side road we passed a group of about sixty men crowding around in a circle. I thought we had passed a temple entrance since there was music playing but then we noticed there was a ring in the middle and there were no women around. We soon realized there was a cock fight going on. We had heard about the cockfights from Dewa and several other Balinese. It is supposed to be considered illegal yet it is allowed around the holidays since the temple hosts them as a way to earn money. A bit strange. They are usually held off the beaten path. We were appalled yet curious about the cock fight. We figured we would walk by and see if the locals minded our presence. It was a bit confusing as to what was happening and took us awhile to understand what seemed like chaos to us. The crowd didn’t seemed bothered by us but we really didn’t want to witness the fighting so we headed back to our bike. One of the men we talked to waved us back so we turned around to see what was going on and learned that they were just about to start the fight. He figured we would be interested in seeing it. There were men screaming and holding up money so I assumed they were placing bets but they weren’t handing the money to anyone. Then I think the fighting started but because there were so many men around we couldn’t see anything. We became uncomfortable and decided to head out.

We drove around other side roads and saw some beautiful scenery. It was different being out in the countryside and seeing the houses. By this time we had been on the bike for a good couple of hours and decided we needed a break. We headed back into town and as we were near the city center Jon made a turn that was too sharp and we hit the pavement and crashed. Luckily Jon wasn’t going very fast and there were no other people or cars around. Within seconds there were a handful of people helping us and making sure we were okay. We were a bit startled by what happened but very fortunate it wasn’t worse. One of my knees was bruised and scraped. Jon was hurt a lot worse since he got scraps and cuts on his arm and legs along with a deep bruise on his left foot. The motorbike had a few scratches on it but nothing major. We had gotten insurance but probably still had to pay for the damages.

After a few minutes and checking to make sure everything was okay we slowly rode back to our home stay. Nyoman was very concerned about us and brought us band-aids. By this time Jon’s leg and foot were hurting even more so we relaxed on our bed for a bit. We hadn’t had lunch yet and were starving so we decided to grab a bite to eat. Even after our wipe out we were unafraid and got back on the bike to head into town. We stopped in at a organic restaurant called Kafe near the Forest Monkey Road. By this time my Bali belly still was acting up so I had another order of steamed veggies and rice. Jon ordered a vegetarian burrito, which looked tasty. After our meal we were ready to call it a night and headed back to our home stay for the night.

Our day may have been overshadowed by our accident but I think we were extremely lucky that we weren’t more seriously injured considering we were at a busy intersection. We are a bit banged up and feeling sore. Jon’s cuts and bruises will take a few days to heal but all in all we still had an adventure in the morning. We really enjoyed being on our own and exploring the various villages around the Ubud area.

5/20/10 (ubud)

Ubud

Our home stay is right in the middle of rice paddies and from our verandah and bedroom window we could see rice fields. The fields are so close that if we were to jump from our window we would land right in the middle of a rice paddy. With the nice view of the paddies comes the frogs croaking all night and chickens chirping at 5am. I guess this is country living. Some roosters are relentless and keep going at it all day long. There are also lots of beautiful dragonflies and at night we can see lightning bugs.

Each morning we can choose from four different breakfast items: banana crepes, eggs and toast, fried rice or fried noodles, or yogurt along with fruit or juice of the day and tea/coffee. Today we tried the banana crepes and fresh fruit and chatted with Suma who was taking care of the place while the owners were back in the states. Then we were off on a two-hour circular rice paddy walk around Ubud Kaja. The first part of the walk was through many rice fields and we could also see Gunung Agung, which is the highest volcanic mountain in Bali. Since it was the end of the harvest season people were gathering the rice by shaking the leaf against a basket. We thought the rice would be white but it’s actually yellow. After they remove the rice from the leaves it is laid out in the sun to dry. Also, along the way we saw many artist studios with beautiful paintings of rice fields or religious figures. After the rice fields it was another hour walk through a village to get back to our home stay. We had been sweating profusely and that’s when it dawned on me that I could create a weight management system called Bali Diet. You just have to come to Bali and eventually you will start losing weight since you sweat so much. It’s organic and all natural! You do have to keep hydrated though preferably and more effectively with water or Pocari Sweat (like Gatorade) than with Bin Tang (Balinese local beer).

When we got back to our home stay another guest had arrived and she was renting a motorbike from Suma’s friend. It was less than $8 a day to rent which included $200 insurance coverage so if we go into an accident we would pay up to $200 for the damages. We decided to rent a motorbike as well for a few days. I tried driving a motorbike once and I dropped it during a turn and since then hadn’t driven one. Jon has had some experience so he took it out for a test drive first before I hopped one. As he was coming back to the house there was a dog coming in the opposite direction and because the road was only about two feet wide Jon swerved and jumped into a muddy rice field to avoid hitting the dog. He kept the motorbike on the path as he jumped into the paddy so the bike was fine but Jon was in mud up to his thighs. We all ran out to see what happened and it was quite a sight. Luckily, Jon was wearing his swim trunks and after we got him cleaned up Jon got back on the horse. We road the bike down the rice paddy path we were on earlier today to Sari Organik, which had a beautiful view of the paddies. It was just a few minutes drive and Jon was driving like a pro. The restaurant is fairly well known since they grow their own produce and almost everything on the menu is homemade including the tofu. We had a great delicious organic meal consisting of a Thai salad and vegetable curry with rice cooked in banana leaves. 

After lunch we met up with Dewa, our driver from a few days ago, at the Monkey Forest since we had left a camera lens cap in his car. Luckily, he was taking some tourist to the forest so it worked out nicely.

For dinner Suma recommended Murni’s Warung, which is a multi-tiered restaurant built into a river valley. It felt like you were in the middle of the forest. I think I caught a case of the Bali belly so I just had steamed vegetables with white rice. Jon ordered his usual nasi goreng. At the bar were two ex-patriots from Australia and we all started talking. It was very interesting hearing their perspective on the Balinese culture since one had lived here for 16 years and Andrew lived here for 9 years. The gentleman who lived here for 16 years worked at the restaurant though I can’t remember his name or figure out his job title since he sat the bar the entire night smoking and drinking coffee. He was a very nice man originally from Aireys Inlet down by the Great Ocean Road in Victoria and you could tell he really enjoys his life in Bali. The other guy was named Andrew who grew up in Perth and was a university lecturer in journalism. He now lives in Bali and is about to write a book called Brush Off. They had a great sense of humor and said that there were many ex-pats from the US who never found their way home from Burning Man and came straight to Bali. They also gave us some recommendations of things to do in Bali, yoga not being one of them. There were some lively discussions about Rupert Murdock and before we knew it we closed down the restaurant at 11pm.