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.
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| 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.
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| 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??
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| 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.)
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| 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.
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| Green Rice Paddies |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Monkeys |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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…
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| See, I'm studying! |
