Bali, Indonesia 2007
There is waaaaay too much to write about Bali in one sitting, so I will give only a synopsis of my trip. It was truly life-changing experience that I will never forget....Here goes...
First and foremost, Bali would be just any other island in the world, without its people. However, its not, because the people are amazing. They are the most gracious people I have ever come across. They are constantly telling you "Thank you for visiting my country" and "please tell your friends and family about Bali, so that they will visit too." They will do anything you want, and are happy to do it.
Night 1 and Day 2 were spent in a town called Nusa Dua, which is an area of Bali strictly for the resorts. Some of the nicest resorts in the world can be found in Bali and they come at a very low cost. To put things in perspective, Most run about $100 a night or would be the lowest tier of a reward stay (which is why we went this route). Anyhow, we were put in this huge 3-room hotel room and we basically sat poolside and beached it for the day. Later that night, we had dinner at Jimbaran Bay which is a popular place to go watch sunset and eat on the beach. Literally about 100 restaurants in a row where you eat on the beach and can be serenaded by a little Balinese guy singing a butchered version of "New York, New York" since we told him we from the US.
Next 3 days were spent in an interior town called Ubud. My parents came to Bali 2 years ago and stumbled upon a house for rent in the middle of the rice paddies. My mom has gushed for 2 years now about how great their experience was at this house. So I contact the guy and before the trip and arrange the deal and transportation. So he picks us up and drives us 45 minutes north to Ubud and along the way is literally any home furnishing you could imagine, in any material you could imagine. Balinese are known for their handiwork, so carvings are particularly popular. People pay thousands of dollars to have this stuff sent over to the US for their homes. So we arrive at the house and its smack dab in the middle of the rice paddies. Small streams running on every side of you as part of their irrigation system. Immediately out of the car are 4 Balinese ladies, completely nude, washing their clothes in the stream. Sorry fellas, that's it.So we go in the house, which is surrounded by a wall. Its a 3 story house completely open on all sides, made of bamboo with a thatch roof. Imagine (pics later) a 3 story tree house complete with a maid/chef, security guard, 4 bdrms, 2 bath, with a lookout tower. As glamorous at that sounds, it actually was a bit of a wake up call. The transition from 5-star luxury to the Swiss Family Robinson's abode, wasn't exactly easy.
Every morning about 530a, about 50 roosters all at once would let out their first cry. This would continue for at least the next 3 hours until it was too hot for them to belt it out. Each morning, I spent the morning awkwardly sitting on the toilet to avoid the 4 inch spider that hovered in the web above. The perils of a completely open air bathroom i guess. Another highlight was chasing off the carpenter ants and dodging the bats that circled the inside of the house each morning.
We spent those 3 days exploring Ubud, and all that it had to offer. Its truly the culture mecca of Bali that stays true to their religion, as oppose to praying to the gods of tourism. We were fortunate to be in Bali during on of their most important holidays, Galungan. Equivalent to our Christmas in the US. Each house was in charge of putting a large bamboo pole outside of their home as an offering to the visiting Gods. As well as each day, taking a small offering to their nearest temple. We saw a traditional Legong Dance, the monkey forest, local temples, Batur Volcano, towering rice paddies.
It also kicked off the shopping, which is amazingly easy on the bank account. We bought a ton of local crafts, including my very first M. McConnaughey bongo drum.Prices were as follows:
Beer = .50
Dinner = $2 - $15 per person
Intricate carving = $5 - $15
1 Hr. Long Massage = $5
Room and Board (which always included a large breakfast) = $20 - $40 per night
Taxi Ride = $5 - $10
Motorbike for the day = $5
Cheap. Cheap. Cheap.
Upon leaving Ubud, we headed back down to the Beach to the town of Kuta. Kuta is like any other typical popular beach destination. It had the commercial stores, the nightclubs, the retired surfers, etc. It was however a lot of fun... lots of shopping, restaurants. surfing, and dodging passing motorbikes. It was also the place of my first surf lesson, which turned out to be a trying experience. All I can say is, Its not as easy as it looks! I picked it up though and it was a lot of fun.
We toured other local towns like Tanah Lot, Seminyak and Legian, which all offered a their own slightly different flavor of Bali. All along the way continuing to accumulate more and more luggage to carry home.
The final two days were spend in Tejung Benoa, which a another strip of Bali playing home to major resorts. Staying in these places is definitely not my first choice, but its hard to pass it up when it comes at no cost and equipped with a working air conditioner. We stayed at the Conrad Resort which was amazing. All of the traditional ways of a hotel stay are disregarded in Bali. When checking in, they ask you to go sit down at a table, which is immediately followed up by a waiter serving you a drink on the house. We were taken to a very nice room that when you stop off of your back porch, you can walk down steps directly into the pool. Anyhow, when it comes to service, these people cut no corners. Each night in the lounge, a huge spread of finger foods were laid out with an open bar followed by some sort of Balinese cultural performance, including the Kecuk Dance, another very traditional Balinese ceremony.
The last day we rented motorbikes and toured the southern part of the island. We set off for the Temple of Ulu Watu, which is on a huge cliff that overlooks the Indian ocean. Our guide into the temple told us to take off all of our jewelry, sunglasses, etc., because otherwise the monkeys would steal it from you and you would never see it again.
Later that night, we boarded a plane from Bali on the night of July 1st, landed in Guam on the morning of July 2nd, then landed in Honolulu on the night July 1st, then a plane from to LA which landed back on the Morning of July 2nd, then finally to Houston to Austin later that afternoon.
That's about it...with a lot of details left out. I am pretty sure the nearly 500 pictures and videos that I took will tell a better story, but I thought I would give my lowdown first. Again, I can't stress enough that the people of Bali are what make it special. It is definitely someplace I would like to revisit time and time again.
You can view pictures from the trip here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/MarshallMHill/Bali2007
Safe and Happy Travels...
posted by MMH @ 8:00 AM
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