Thurs Sept 12 to Tues Sept 16 …..Relaxing in Bali

Bali……crazy traffic, busy, happy helpful people, hot, beautiful

Bali airport….we were there…..a little bit longer than necessary because both of us read the sign that said “visa on arrival” and got into  a very long line for a half hour with our $25 US  in our hot little hands only to be told we need to buy the visa in another line (thankfully short) then come back.  Which we did then got back into the first line which was just as long as it was before because at least 2 other flights had gotten in!!! so another half hour in line.  Luckily we did not have any illicit drugs with us…(see pic)  We made it through all the while wondering if our luggage would still be there…..yes it was, but attached to 2 very helpful porters who wanted to carry our luggage and get us a cab….for a fee of course.  We managed to shake them and find a cab ( we were told by a lady in the Darwin airport only to get Bluebird cabs because they have meters other cabs wing it and say what they want.)  We got one through a, “taxi broker” with a fixed price  100,000 rupiah .….now before you faint that is about $10, 10,000 IDR is about $1.  So you can imagine how many types of bills there are….very crazy.

We had arrived at 8:30pm Bali time and left the airport at about 10:00pm.  The taxi ride was chaotic….cars all over the place and a million scooters zipping in and out of the cars going where ever they darn well pleased…..it was a combination of Lima Peru traffic and China traffic….totally crazy.  I really haven’t noticed a lot of traffic lights either…..so really chaotic

 

There was another little kid in front of the Mom

We got to our hotel….the Fontana, and said wow! After sleeping on the ground, in tents and in busy backpackers hostels  what a treat!   The staff is so helpful and friendly, the room is really nice with a balcony over the pool.  The check in girl said all the things in the fridge are free so use them they will be replenished each day….2 bottles of water, 2 cartons of juice, 2 pops, a package of nuts and to Lori’s delight a Kit Kat chocolate bar!!! So we eat them. Oh and it includes breakfast…..a beautiful hot buffet of Indonesian and North American food (eggs, bacon) and another buffet with toast, buns, cereal, yogurt and fruit and crepes…..very yummy all of it.  Best on the table:  chocolate croissants!!

Friday, our first full day in Bali, we hired a taxi driver to take us around…meaning taking us to places we want to get caches.  We went to a little restaurant (not to eat but to get a cache) with the most amazing view, the staff knew where it was so you just had to ask.  Then we went to Uluwatu, a temple perched on a cliff  with a view of the surf. Monkeys are supposed to be real pests here stealing sunglasses, food , anything that they can get there hands on….we saw the monkeys but they didn’t bother us, it must have been too hot for them too.  Next we made our way to Kuta Beach to find a cache at a little hotel, that again the staff knew about and would tell you where it was or let you search for it.  Then on to the beach do another earth cache.  Kuta beach is ranked one of the top beaches in the world…..surf, sand, sun, and even trees for shade.  But we were by this time sooo hot and tired from the humidity that all we could think about was the pool!

View from Uluwatu

Kuta Beach

All this took about 5 hours……the area is a small area to drive but the traffic is so congested you don’t go far..  We got back to the hotel about 3:00

After a dip in the pool and reading for awhile in the lounge chairs., we had dinner at the hotel.  The restaurant is Italian, serves pizzas and pasta……we each had a different prawns dish. The jumbo prawns were almost the size of lobsters!  Then worked on the blog.

Saturday was a relax day….all we did was sit around the pool and when we got hot we hopped into the pool for a swim……very refreshing and relaxing.   For dinner we decided to explore a little and got a cab and went to Kuta Beach area…Poppy Lane 2.…where it is like a street market with booths of stuff and street food.  But we ended up in a mall and had fish and chips.  Then dodged traffic to get across the street to the  beach and then walked back up the market street  to find a cab.  

 

Lori at play

Pam in her new swimsuit taken with her new camera!

Sunday  night we had booked  a hotel in Ubud, which is about 30kms from the city.  I got a taxi which took us to a puzzle cache that Lori had solved and then on to Ubud. Ubud is the town made famous by the book and movie Eat Pray Love …..was probably a nice sleepy town  in the hills but is now a busy touristy area.for all those who loved the book.  ( I couldn’t get into it….I’ve downloaded it again and will try to read it)  The trip took us about 2 hours to get there because of traffic even on a Sunday.

Our hotel is the Uma Sari, a place recommended by friends of Lori’s…..we checked in an we off on a hike on the Campuhan  trail, a trail on the ridge between 2 rivers….very scenic and beautiful.  Looking down into the valleys on either side you see lush jungle and rice paddies….just every shade of green.  The trail was quite busy, and lots of local highschoolers were along it.  Lori thinks this is the trail Julia Roberts was cycling along in the movie.  Hollywood, though…..she was cycling down to the beach, which is a LONG cycle from here in reality.  Two kms into it is a community hall with a library a meeting place, art gallery, a restaurant and a cache…..it was up stairs in the building as we were coming down 4 German students were looking around for something and we pointed upstairs.  We stopped here for a drink and Lori face timed her mom…we relaxed for about an hour and then started back….a very beautiful hike, but hot and humid.  Thank goodness the sun was not shining .

The Campuhan Trail

 

Community Hall pool

 

We're not the only crazy cachers!!!!

A great day ….and then disaster struck!!!!  I (Pam) needed some more Indonesian rupiah from an ATM….so I picked one that looked reputable that was attached to a bank…..and guess what….the machine ate my card, no money just a receipt that said “your card is retained”  This is Sunday so the bank was closed.  Grrrrrrr….I should have gone to the one that Lori went to in the Circle K store!!!!!


We got back to the hotel with the emergency number that was on the machine for the manager of the hotel to call for us but of course it couldn’t go through. So we  found a nearby restaurant and had an early dinner then walked the streets looking at shops.  Outside the Starbucks (yes they have a Starbucks!) a fellow was selling tickets for Balinese dance preformances…..they seem to be only on Sunday nights  so we were lucky enough to choose the right day for a stay.  We chose one that had a man’s chanting chorus and a fire dance performance.  $8.  But we bought the tickets at about 6 and performance wasn’t until 7:30 so we found the market and wandered around and bought stuff.  

Fish Spa

 

Fire Dancer

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The performance was wonderful….very colourful with a chorus of male chanters that sat around the dancers and their story.  At the end there was a fellow who came out and walked on hot coals!

First thing on Monday morning we went over to the bank to see if we could get them to retreive my card….after much talking they finally said they could get it back in 3 days!!! We were leaving in a couple of hours…..so now I am without a card and when I did get back to our original hotel and phoned the credit union I am now without access to my bank accounts online…..I’ll have to think of some back up for my next trip!

We then caught a cab to  do a bit of business.  Now catching a cab in Indonesia is not like catching a cab in Vancouver.  You either go on the meter for short distance or get one by the hour for long distances…..We refused the first 2 people because we thought they were too high but by the time we walked a about 100 meters more the next guy had lowered his price…..they must have phoned ahead to tell him.  So off we went to find a cache by a small temple by a rice field and then to the Elephant Cave park and then had him drive us back to town.   Our last cache was at a school for handicapped kids…set up by someone from the Netherlands.  Their motto is……………, because they run a little restaurant too.  We were pointed in the direction of the cache, had our lunch and one of the young volunteers that run the programs came and talked to us and told us about some of their work.

Dance class

Rice fields

We still had a couple of hours before we had to be back at the hotel to get the shuttle back to Kuta Beach, so we wandered through some stores and then back up to the hotel to try unsuccessfully to get on the wifi and read. We were picked up at 3:30  (right on schedule) and when picking up and dropping on people then catching a cab back to the Fontana Hotel took us about 2 hours.   We had another nice dinner in the restaurant and then got  ready for our massage appointment at 8:00 (you have to have a massage while you are in Bali!).   After nine oclock the little snack bar downstairs has their bakery stuff on for half price so we had a bit of desert (yummy mango cheesecake)

The people of Bali have made out little trip very pleasant.  They are so gentle and kind…..even amidst the traffic chaos, everyone is calm and courteous, you just work your way in to an opening and go when it’s your turn.  People generally referred to us a Miss Lori and Miss Pam, always with a huge smile on their faces.  Every place we ate at, they worked so hard to pay attention to detail, and they were enthusiastic in answering all our questions.  There is some kind of building going up next to where we were.  The construction work is just beginning, and we watched as the people toiled with no real equipment.  Backbreaking, hot work…..but every time we went by on our way to our room, they waved up at us and smiled in greeting.  We took quite a few photos….our construction friends would be appalled at the conditions on the jobsite:  flip-flops, no hats, one little cement mixer that they make the cement in and pass to the guys up on the pillars (with no safety equipment whatsoever) bucket by bucket.  Digging the trench for the bottom fittings with a pickaxe; you would have to see it to believe it.  Our hotel was so nicely finished, but you had to wonder how structurally sound it was, after watching next door for 5 days!!

We were also lucky to escape the mosquito season.  We saw very few, but one fellow we met at the fire dance (from LA) was quite badly bitten.  Maybe those Mozzie-Q pills Pam brought really DID work!!

Even though we were here for only 4 (functional) days, we were on the go and did more than we thought we would.  But there’s so much more to do, and it really is quite a big island, so this was really our reconnaissance mission.  Can’t wait to come back!

Ar the airport

So today, Tuesday, we say goodbye to Bali….we had time to have a little last minute sit around the pool after breakfast and then left for the airport….early but zipped right along through check in, baggage check (they tagged my bag as heavy….oh oh)  and leave the airport tax ($15  that we learned about this morning….they are building a beautiful new airport….think it’s going to that) then a depart the country  stop,  then…wait…..no security?…..that is right at the boarding gate at this airport……but we got through this one no problem….just lost my water which they let me on coming to Bali (same airlines)….like I say every stop is different, every flight is different! ( this one we get food!!)

……On to Perth!