Bali

I suppose I will tell you about the rest of our Bali adventure as well, seeing as I did do more than just mess with my hair.

Sunset in Kuta 

Overall impression of Bali: Hectic. They thrive on tourism, so when you walk through the markets, every one wants you to come to THEIR stall and buy THEIR goods, and they are not quiet or shy about it. This results in a lot of people yelling at you to buy their stuff all at once, even if you aren’t even shopping.

And beautiful. The beaches stretch on for days; the water is clear, blue, and lined with palm trees; the rice paddies are vast and green; the sunsets over the ocean bright red and orange; and the temples are draped in orange and yellow. Overall, Bali was colorful and exciting!

Places we went: Kuta, Ubud, Seminyak, Nusa Dua.

Accommodation:

Everything in Bali is cheap so we got to stay in nice hotels. We felt very spoiled after sleeping in spaceships and hostels! The rooms were all really nice; sometimes we had connecting rooms, shared a big room or just completely separate. Most of the hotels also had sweet pools, which we spent a fair amount of time in because it was so stinkin’ hot! The coolest hotel was in Ubud. It didn’t have air conditioning, which was tough, but it had a very rugged and tropical feel to it. There was a good-sized room downstairs and a bedroom upstairs and we had two rooms connected. The bathrooms were the best part though, they had walls and a roof but they were outside! So when we showered it sort of felt like we were showering in the jungle.

Activities:

Shopping: We did lots of shopping through the markets. Everything is really cheap over there so it was one of the few places where I felt like I could shop.

Fish nibbling on our feet. So weird. 

Cheap Massages: 15 dollars for over 2 hours. We had the little fish eat the dead skin off of our feet. I don’t know that I liked it; it tickled a little too much. Then they did a full body massage, body scrub and facial. Possibly the only time I’ll ever be able to afford such treatment, it was quite nice! (Minus the trouble I had sitting still for 2 hours).

Riding elephants: I was really excited to go ride elephants, but when we got there I saw that the elephants were chained to the ground, and it made me feel really sad/guilty. It was so unnatural and mean.

 The first thing we did was feed the elephants. I got excited all over again when they walked about 6 elephants up to a small fence and we got to feed them. I was feeding a big one on the end while Sonya took photos. All of the sudden the elephant I was feeding swung her trunk at me and knocked me right off of my feet! I fell pretty hard onto the cement, but made out with just a small scrape on my knee. Startled the heck out of me though. I was embarrassed too because everyone heard me fall and all the older ladies in our group were all concerned and fussy. As one of the guys that works cleaned off my knee, he told me that I shouldn’t have teased that particular elephant because she was pregnant. Well, sorrrrrrryyyy! How was I supposed to know she was hormonal? And I’m not sure how to “tease” an elephant; did she hear me say that she looked fat??

Lechip, Sonya and Me

            After the feeding incident, we watched the elephants put on a show, they sat when they were told, kicked soccer balls, answered math problems, walked in circles…the usual circus tricks. It was entertaining, but all very showy. After the show we got to ride them. Each elephant held two people so Sonya and I rode together. We sat up on a seat on the elephant’s back while one of the guys that worked there sat on the head to guide the elephant around the trail. Our elephant’s name was Lechip and I was happy that he was a boy and therefore had no chance of being pregnant and hormonal. Made me feel much safer. We chose to ride at night, which was very cool and peaceful, but we hadn’t really thought about the fact that you can’t see much when it’s dark…woops. It was still pretty sweet, they had some lights lining the path so we could see some of our surroundings, just not a whole lot. After the ride we ate a delicious buffet dinner overlooking a pond in the elephant’s enclosure area. The food was excellent.

Yoga:  My two favorite Bali activities were Yoga and walking through rice paddies. We found place called the Yoga Barn to take a yoga class in Ubud. We got there plenty early, but found out the Power Yoga class that we wanted to take was at a different location. We got some pathetic directions and wandered the street for a while looking for it. We had almost given up when a nice Australian couple helped us out. It was just further down the street that we were on. We got there just after it started and the instructor was happy to let us join.

            It was easily one of the best yoga classes that I have ever taken. It was in a big open pavilion just off the road. I don’t like complete silence, so I welcomed the background noise that came from the street. Like I said, it was a power yoga class, so along with the normal poses and sequences, we also got to work on forearm stands and hand stands. It was a very relaxed and fun atmosphere. We were encouraged to work on things that we find challenging and had input in which poses we worked on as opposed to following a predetermined routine.

            The instructor was an American named Denise and she was covered in tattoos. I found it interesting that although she was all inked up, I only ever looked at her face. She had such a bright and friendly personality that I could not tell you what a single one of her tattoos were. I left yoga feeling on top of the world. I felt clear headed, relaxed, content and completely happy. Reminded me to slow down and enjoy what was around me instead of rushing from one thing to another.

            While Kim and I did yoga, the other girls took a cooking class at the hotel. One of the cooks took them to the market to buy all the ingredients and then back to the hotel to cook lunch. They were finishing just as we got back from yoga, which was perfect because then we go to help eat the lunch! I think they were a bit disappointed with the class because they said it was more of them watching the cook do all the work than actually getting to cook themselves. (I was glad I chose yoga instead.)

One of the many statues 

Walk through the rice paddies: As I said, my other favorite activity was the walk through the rice paddies. We paid $20 each for a private guide to take us on a half-day adventure. We first did some sightseeing through Ubud on the way out to the paddies. They have really epic statues in Bali towns; they are HUGE and all white. Everything else is usually either very green or sort of brown and dirty, and then all of the sudden you are confronted with ginormous white horses and men towering above the car. They create a very stark contrast.

            We walked through the paddies next. I’m not sure exactly how long we spent walking, but it was probably around 2 hours. Everything was so green; it was absolutely beautiful. Our guide’s name was Ry and he was a goofball. In the first five minutes he swiped a snake out of a tree, swung it around, and launched it out in the rice. He kept telling us throughout the walk to be careful over the small bridges (which were usually a very small log) and to have good balance. Of course, over one bridge just as he was saying this, he slipped and ate it. Couldn’t have been better timing and since he wasn’t hurt, it was very funny. He wasn’t the only one who fell; I think Emilia and Kelsey also fell at least once each. Very clumsy crew.

Green Rice Paddies 

Farmers in their home

            Nestled in between the rice fields were farmers homes, one of which we visited. By our standards, it would have been considered just a hut shared with several cows and a couple of pigs (and the smells that accompany both). Their bed was little more than a shelf. It was a complete eye opener to see how primitively (I hope that’s the right word) they lived. They were very gracious in welcoming us in to look around and offered us a snack of the rice and coconut variety. Ry told us to tip them before we left so we gave them a small note as we walked out. It wouldn’t have been more than a few cents to us, but that is how much he recommended. That in itself was another eye opener. The change that we might find under the couch was enough to put a huge smile on their faces. It was incredibly humbling.

Fresh coconut water! 

            Towards the end of the adventure, we walked up a man shimmying up a palm tree and tossing down coconuts. We were invited to sit at the bottom of the tree (out of the drop-zone) and Ry split the coconuts open for us to drink the water. I have never tasted anything so fresh and pure. Makes the coconut water I buy from Trader Joes seem like a bit of a joke. It is hard to capture how epic it was here, re-telling it now just does not do it justice.

            After the rice paddies, we stopped at a black sand beach (the sand was really shiny) and a couple of temples. The temples were interesting. They are decorated with lots of yellow and orange and are bright and cheery looking. They are filled with statues of little men with various facial expressions, as well as larger statues of all kinds of beings and animals. To get in, we had to pay a small donation to get a sash to wear as a skirt.  It was fun to walk around, but very hot (and we were getting hungry), so we did not end up staying very long.

Monkeys 

Entrance to one of the biggest temples  

Monkey Forest: there is a monkey sanctuary in Ubud where you can go feed wild monkeys… of course we went. It was only a couple of dollars to get in and to buy a bunch of small bananas. Calling them “wild” monkeys is slightly misleading; they are clearly conditioned to being fed by tourists and are very assertive in getting bananas. One of them tried to grab my bag right off my shoulder within seconds of walking in. Another monkey lunged at Kim with his teeth bared, one jumped on Emilia’s back and a few climbed all over Sonya. Seems that all of us had some kind of animal incident. My elephant experience was a big reminder that even tame animals can catch you off guard, so I mostly kept my distance and as soon as they grabbed any banana I quickly backed away. It was really fun to walk around the jungly-looking paths with monkeys hanging out everywhere.

Monkey Friend

            Surfing: The last day we were there Sonya and I drove a hard bargain and rented a surfboard for a short time. We charged out and caught a good few waves before packing up our stuff to leave. Although it would have been fun to surf the whole day away, we were happy to at least have a taste of the Bali waves. The sun was out and the water was warm. I always love being able to surf without a wetsuit!

            As a side note, the beach was the perfect place to watch the sunset…except for the last day when it was cloudy and we could see absolutely nothing. 

The people: Our group was made up of five girls: Sonya, Kim, Emilia, Kelsey and myself. I was a little nervous about traveling with all girls, but we couldn’t have had a better group. Even though not everyone knew each other before we left, we had no drama and everyone got along really well.

People in Bali were really friendly. I was worried at first about taking pictures of them working in the fields and in their villages because it felt very rude and invasive. But one of our guides told us that they usually don’t mind. I always felt better when I asked first, and I was rarely turned down when I did. I don’t think I would like very much if someone started taking photos of me going about my daily life, but their lifestyles and ways of living are so different from ours that it was hard not to. The Balinese people were very excited to have American tourists. They kept telling us to go back to the states and tell all of our friends and families to go to Bali. Turns out they found us just as interesting and several of them even wanted pictures with us. Made me feel better about asking for pictures with them.

Fruit galore 

Food: My favorite food in Bali was the fruit. Nearly everywhere we went served fresh banana, watermelon, grapes, and papaya with lime. It was DELICIOUS! We also tried some new fruits that I can’t remember the names of. It was also very inexpensive to eat out, we bought lunch and dinner meals for easily under $5. It was so cheap that we felt like we could get food AND a drink, and sometimes even dessert! My favorite place that we ate was a restaurant that was on the beach. As in our feet were in the sand under the table. They also had beanbags that you could lounge around in, so we sat in those to eat dessert and digest for a big after dinner.

I'm a Millionaire!

Money: their currency is such that for the first (and in all likelihood, last ) time we were all millionaires! Woohoo! It is amazing how much you can spend even when everything is so cheap. It adds up so quickly.

Like most of the trips I have been on, it is impossible to capture it all in a blog. I have several more Bali stories to share, but they may have to wait till later. I do feel like I should mention that we went to Bali during our study week before finals. It seemed like too good of a travel opportunity to pass up, so I completed all of my study guides before I left and took them with me. I would be lying if I said I studied very much (which is ok to admit now since I passed all of my exams), but I have photographic proof that I studied at least once in the pool in Nusa Dua…It wasn’t staged at all…

See, I'm studying!