Bali, Day 4: dance, crafts, temples, poo coffee, and elephants

It was a long day today. We awoke at around 7 and had breakfast at our lodging - 2 jaffels, 1 poached egg, and some juices. Then we had to check out and catch our boat back to Bali at 8:30. This time it was low tide so it wasn't as bumpy, although there were a few bumps in the middle. When we got to Sanur, we waited for our driver, who turned out to be the brother of the driver we hired, because maybe he's busy or something?

The first thing we did was the Barong and Kris Dance, which was another traditional Balinese dance. The story is pretty much about the good spirit (Barong) and the evil spirit (Rangda?), and how they are fighting through many different characters. There was a monkey and bird in this story as well. No fire dancing here though.

After this, we went to two "touristy-trap" type showrooms, one for batik textiles, and one for woodcraving. The batik place did have some very nice cloth paintings, some were very vibrant, but we didn't buy anything. At the wood carving place, I was surprised by the amount of erotic woodcarvings. We ended up buying a wooden statue of a girl lying on the ground.

After the two showrooms, we drove to the temples. First stop was the elephant cave temple, which was a temple in some rock mountains, there was also some hot springs are there too. The next temple was Gunung Kawi, which required a very long walk down lots and lots of stairs. This temple area were some stone statues in a mountain, and they were pretty big. I wasn't sure if the long staircase was worth it though. There was a little cafe there, where we bought a muffin and some watermelon juice. The third temple was at Tirta Empul, which also had some hot springs, which the place was known of. There was a restaurant there, and it was 2 by then, so we ordered some food - I got some noodle soup and Aaron got some rice and chicken, and of course, more juice and tea.

After our late lunch, we headed to "Agrotourism" which was a farm that grew some spices and fruits and coffee. We got to try a bunch of different teas and coffees, and I especially enjoyed the chocolate coffee. We even got to try the Kopi Luwak coffee, aka "poo coffee," which was the one that passes through the digestive tract of the Luwak animal. It was actually pretty good, tastes like coffee but not as bitter.

After this adventure, we drove up a very long and windy and skinny road to the Elephant Park at Taro. It was a bit pricy, but it was pretty fun. We took a half an hour trip on the elephant, which was both fun and somewhat scary, because the chairs on top of the elephant had no safety bar, and no seatbelt, and it can be pretty bumpy. The ride was pretty nice, in some nice cool forests. Then we walked around a bit and saw some more elephants eating, as well as two baby elephants, which were pretty cute.

After this, we headed back down the windy road and went to our newest hotel. This one was next to some rice fields, and the room was nice enough. It was time for dinner, and we went to a local restaurant near the hotel. We ordered spring rolls, more juices, and steamed fish. Aaron had ordered some other food but somehow they forgot about it, so we just ended up buying some snacks later on.

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Bali, Day 3: Nusa Lembongan day

Today was a nice relaxing day at Nusa Lembongan. First we had breakfast of a fried egg, a jaffle (which is kinda like a stuffed toast with cheese and tomato and egg), and a fruit pancake (covered with honey and some fruits). It was a pretty good breakfast, and all that was about 6 bucks!

We decided to have a beachy day, so we walked along the island until we could see a nice beach, since the beach outside our lodging had lots of boats and seaweed everywhere. We walked for a bit and explored around, sometimes up and sometimes down, and we found a little beach in this little cove area. There was some people there and some boats, but it wasn't very crowded. We found a little area on the side which was pretty quiet and nice, and just sat on the beach, played in the sand, and played in the nice blue water. Soon the high tide came though, and our little area was washed away, but we still had fun there.

After that, we walked back to our place, stopping at a restaurant for lunch, which had a nice view of the water. We had a creamy pasta and seafood kebabs, as well as a very delicious papaya juice, all for 12. At that restaurant, there was a skinny cat with a curly tail. The table next to us started feeding it fruits and bacon, which the cat seemed to enjoy. After lunch we headed back to our room, tried to wash most of the sand away, and just relaxed in our dark cool room, away from the blaring Balinese sun.

Soon after, we just took a little walk around the back roads of the island. We saw many little stores and some residences, and we actually saw a eagle, which was pretty interesting and odd, because it was just perched on a fence. There were also lots of roosters in cages and lots of wild dogs around, but they didn't seem aggressive, most of the animals here seem very relaxed. Soon it was time for the sunset, but this time the sunset wasn't as good because there were clouds in the way.

We then had dinner, which we got a vegetable burger, ginger pork, and a crepe stuffed with rice. Aaron got a papaya milkshake, which he enjoyed a lot. I got banana juice, which was good. After that we went back to our room and showered off our sweat and sand, and I discovered that I had sunburned my belly and Aaron sunburned his lower back.

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Bali, Day 2: Journey to Nusa Lembongan

Today was our adventure to an island. In the morning we mostly relaxed after our breakfast of omlette and banana pancakes, and around noon the boat people came and picked us up from the hotel. This boat company was called Scoot, and they had a fast speed boat that went to the place we will be staying the next two nights - Nusa Lembongan, which was a smaller island off the coast of Bali.

The driver from Scoot took us and an older Australian couple to the beach area, where the boat was anchored to the beach. There was no dock or anything, we had to get on the boat from the beach, getting our feet and half our legs wet in the process. The boat ride itself was 30 minutes of extremely bumpy and splashy ride, it almost felt like a roller coaster at some parts, where the waves were larger. At the end, we were getting a little seasick, so we were glad when we finally arrived at Nusa Lembongan - on the beach, of course.

Then we found our lodging, which was very nice, nicer than we expected. The grounds were gardeny and there was a restaurant that overlooked the beach. Our room was small and no AC but the walls were dark and teakwood so it felt pretty nice when it was out of the blasting sun, and of course there was a fan as well. The bathroom was a little dingy but it was okay, because the grounds were very peaceful and nice. We wandered around a little bit, there wasn't a lot of people here, only some locals and a few western tourists, but not as crowded as Kuta and even Sanur.

The beach itself isn't the prettiest, because there was a lot of shells and seaweed everywhere, but the water was a nice blue and the island was very peaceful and quiet. The major industry on the island was seaweed farming, so as we walked along, we saw lots of seaweed drying in the sun. We were pretty hungry, since it was 3 by then, so we ordered lunch from the restaurant at our lodging. We ordered a chicken steak, a mixed rice plate, and a shrimp burger. I also got mango juice, and it all came out to be around 12 bucks!

After another walk around the island, we went back to our room and just rested for about an hour, before emerging again to see the sunset, which was very nice, especially since our lodging faced west. We sat on the lounge chairs and just enjoyed the sunset for awhile, before noticing it was low tide and we could walk on the beach to pretty far. We found lots of shells with hermit crab like crabs in there, and also a larger spiky looking crab as well. After that we had dinner, which was a big calzone and fried seafood noodles, plus a cocktail for me (I think it had pineapple, banana, and maybe coconut in it? As well as this local liquor called Arak) and Aaron got a super sour limeade soda. All this for about 12 bucks again! It was getting late so we retreated back to our room soon after. Ahhh relaxing, I wish we could stay here forever.

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Bali, Day 1: Sanur, Uluwatu, and Jimbaran

Today was our first full day in Bali!

We woke up at 8 feeling a lot better and somewhat refreshed. Our room was slightly dinky, but it wasn't too bad. There was mosquito net in our bed, which was a bit weird to use because it was small and only covered our top half of our body. There was some small gardeny areas and a pool at the hotel too, which was pretty small, I think 17 rooms in total? Breakfast was either some kind of egg or some kind of pancake, plus tea or coffee and fruits. Aaron and I got scrambled egg with toast and pineapple pancakes.

After that, we explored our town, Sanur. We were walking down, looking for a swimsuit for me, since my bikini strap broke. We ended up going to Hardys, this multistory discount store looking place. I actually did find a denim looking bikini which looked nice. I also found a nice sundress, much better than any of the dresses I found in Korea. Aaron bought 3 shirts and 1 undershirt and a pair of sunglasses. There was a lot of salespeople though, they were also pretty pushy, sorta like the stores in China. There was also a little supermarket type store in the building so we went in and bought some snacks and drinks, as well as some shampoo and body wash and such. We had to buy some sun screen but unfortunately that was one of the pricier things in Bali (apparently Balinese don't sunburn) for like 18 bucks.

After that, it was around noonish so we were ready for lunch. We started walking back to our hotel, since we passed lots of restaurants. It was very hot by then, and very very humid, and the sun, since we were near the Equator, was coming down pretty strong. We were sweating like no tomorrow by then, since we non-Balinese people aren't used to the sun and humidity. We found a little restaurant soon enough, and ordered some Satay and a pizza and a mixed fruit drink. It was all about 8 bucks, and the pizza was pretty big. Satay was a bunch of stick with meat on it, dipped in a peanut sauce.

After lunch, we headed back to the hotel for a short break before we went to meet our driver for the rest of the day. First we headed towards Kuta, which was a big touristy beach town. We walked along the beach a bit, but there wasn't too interesting, a few stores here and there, some people sitting here and there. Kuta had a lot of stores, and we found another supermarket, where we bought a drink and a few other small things. And then we found this huge multistory building that was filled with stores. We headed in and looked thorugh some some swimsuits and dresses and souvenirs, but we didn't end up buying anything there.

After Kuta we headed to Uluwatu for the temple and the Kecak dance. There was monkeys in that area as well, which we took some pictures with. There was a few fat monkeys there as well. The temple itself was on a cliff overseeing the water, which was a nice shade of blue and very pretty. Then we headed to the Kecak dance. It was a bunch of stone benches in a circle, and they really packed us in, because it was filled with people, barely had any room for the performers. There was this guy next to me who was annoying - first he was pretty large, and then he had a huge camera which he click clicked and tested the flash many times, and then he had a huge bag between his legs so that his legs were way on my side. And lastly, near the end of the performance, he asked the girl in front of him to switch places with him (although he was taller than she was) because he just HAD to take pictures. Anyway, the performance itself- there was a ton of half naked men chanting to the fire, and occasionally other characters will come up and tell the story. The basic story is that some demon guy wants this woman, so he told his advisor to be a deer and have the woman's husband and brother chase it, and then he pretends to be some old guy and when the woman brings him water, he kidnaps him. And then this white monkey helps the woman by causing disorder in the demon god's palace, and then giants come and capture him and try to burn him, but he has powers so he can't die and gets them back. At the fire part, the fire was pretty hot and intense, but it burned pretty fast and before you know it, it was over. It was a pretty interesting performance.

After this show, we headed to Jimbaran for some seafood dinner. It was pretty nice because the tables were on the beach and we can choose from their fresh seafood, but unfortunately I felt duped because I thought the price was supposed to be a lot cheaper than it was. I thought it woul be 25, but it was 68. So.... yeah. At least the food was pretty good - we got clams, lobster, and prawns. Also had some rice, soup, and some greens which might be collard greens. We also ordered a melon juice and cocnut juice, which gave me an actual coconut. Of course, as soon as we got our drinks the first time, the guy dropped our coconut all over the table and Aaron's left leg, so we had to change tables and they gave us another coconut, of course. After this dinner, we headed back to our hotel. We tried to find the night market, but after walking for quite a bit and not finding it, we just decided to go back and just relax the rest of the night.

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Bali, Day 0: Our Long Journey There

Our trip actually started on July 22, Wednesday, since that is when we left our apartment.
So on Wednesday, right after my class, which I got to go home an hour early, yay, we packed our last minute stuff and headed towards the airport, which was a long journey: First the 20 minutes bus from our area to the bus terminal, waited for an hour, and then the three hour bus to the airport. And the waiting doesn't stop there! At the airport, we got there around 8 pm, and our flight was at 9:30 am!

The reason we didn't go in the morning is because we would barely have enough time and be rushing, so we just decided to spend the night in the airport. After all, Seoul's Incheon airport was one of the best sleeping airports. So we headed towards the fourth floor, and saw some beanbag chairs, which we sat in until they told us they were closing that area. So then we headed to this place that had big flat circular shaped benches, where we slept the rest of the night. I was pretty tired so I slept relatively well, although these was noise and people walking, but since it was in the fourth floor, there wasn't as much people walking at night, which was very good.

We woke up around 6 and checked in our luggage, and headed to our flight. And so begins the whole flight journey. The first flight was from Seoul to Hong Kong, with a stopover in Taipei. That flight wasn't very eventful. We had little screens in front of our seats but we didn't figure out until the second flight, but it was relatively short flight, about 3-ish hours total flying time, although we did have to wait in Taipei for a bit.

At Hong kong, we had to wait for a pretty long time, because we got there at around 2 and our flight was at 7. So we basically sat around and waited. We didn't have any HK dollars so we didn't buy anything there. Also, there was no water fountains because of everyone was paranoid about swine flu. Lots of the airport people were wearing face masks. The area around HK was actually pretty scenic, lots of green islands in clear blue waters.

When we finally got on the plane and this time, we figured out the monitors so I was able to watch dirty jobs and alice in wonderland on this flight. By the time we got to Bali, it was around midnight, and it had been over 24 hours since we left our apartment, and yes, we were very tired. And there at the airport we had our first problem. So we had to pay for a $25 visa, but the guy only gave me the rupiah worth $2.50 and hoped I wouldn't notice, so Aaron went and yelled at the guy and got me the right amount of change. And then after we got our baggage, these two guys went home and took them and tried to carry them, but I figured they will ask for money after they carry it, so we told them we can carry it ourselves. Outside we met up with the driver of our hotel and went to our hotel. We were pretty tired so we pretty much went to bed immediately. Click here to read more

Back from Bali

Back from Bali and back to work.

Will be updating with Bali pictures and trip reports soon. Click here to read more