Beautiful Bali

Before we left Singapore for Bali, Mark had scheduled us to be picked up at the airport by a driver who would take us to our hotel.  This was brilliant since it turned out that our plane didn’t arrive until well after 8PM and the hotel was three hours away from the airport! Our friend, Jen, Amy, Mark and I were met at the airport by Bob Bali holding a sign saying Shafer.  We arrived in Lovina, on Bali’s North shore around midnight.

The pool at Hotel Melamun

We spent the first day in Lovina getting our bearings and swimming in Hotel Melamun’s lovely pool.  Jen and Amy shared a room and seemed to enjoy one another’s company.  As it turns out December is Bali’s rainy season; the weather was hot and sticky.  It would rain occasionally during the day but most of the time we saw sunshine.  Lovina is a beach town best known as a place where you can see dolphins.  It is a sleepy town except on the beach where hawkers are ready to sell you everything from sarongs to fruit to jewelry to paintings.  You name it; they have it.  “Morning price, good luck price, evening price,” became refrains we would hear often as hawkers approached us throughout our time in Bali.

Bob sitting in a tree

Bob Bali, as he is known, became our driver/guide while we were in Northern Bali. When he was 12, Bob lost his dad and dropped out of school to support his mom and two sisters.  He is now married with 2 children, Mita age 4 and Lisa 6 months.  At 26, he has managed to purchase a van and is a savvy businessman who supports 6 women and himself.

Making an offering

By day two we were ready to explore and Bob offered us an excellent tour.  We left early and made our way to the oldest Buddhist temple in Bali.  Unlike the rest of Indonesia that is mostly Muslim, most Balinese are Hindu.   Their Hinduism is different than that of the Indians.  The Balinese are extremely devoted, making daily offering at shrines which include temples in their homes, yards, shops, hotels, trees, in fact pretty much everywhere you turn.  These offerings consist of rice, flowers, treats and joss sticks.  The plethora of stray dogs, cats and occasional monkeys eat the offerings.  According to one of the tour guides, most Balinese first pray to Shiva, the destroyer.  I guess they believe if the destroyer is mollified, then the rest will work out.  The Balinese believe in the power of magic and are superstitious.  Hence the refrain from shopkeepers and hawkers, “First sell, good luck.”  Moreover, much to my surprise, a guidebook said that the Balinese believe in one God but they pray to God’s various manifestations.  I only just scratched the surface of their religion and culture as I questioned Bob and other Balinese we met along the way.

Amy, Jen and Carol driving Luwak coffee

With Bob’s help, we saw quite a lot of Bali. We visited the Munduk coffee plantation where we drank Luwak coffee.  Luwak is considered by many (tourists primarily, I believe) to be Bali’s premier coffee.  Luwak coffee is made from the coffee beans excreted by a native ferret type creature.  Yes, the coffee is cleaned before it is brewed.  Significantly more expensive than Bali’s other coffee, it is said to be much richer than other coffee.  (I wonder why??)  Of course, it is a must to try, and so we did.  Was it tastier?  Not really, but it makes a good story.

No umbrella: No worries!

Amy and Mita

We visited Banjar Hot Springs that was really only lukewarm but lots of fun and a lovely waterfall that was flowing rapidly as the rain poured all around.  We also went to see the oldest tree in Bali, a Banyan that is so large you can walk all through its roots and is said to have mystical properties.  When we visited the temple on the lake, Ulan Danu Beratan, Amy became the attraction for a group of Indonesian men who wanted a photo with her.  At the end of the day, we were delighted to visit Bob’s home situated on a hill about 10km from Lovina.  His family captured our hearts, especially 4 year-old Mita, who came to call me Oma Carol.

On our way to Ubud, we drove by Lake Batur and the volcano but due to rain our view was obscured.

Our hotels in Bali were beautiful.  Hotel Melamun in Lovina was lovely and we came to feel very at home there.  The pool was fabulous.  We made friends with the staff along with Rita and Richard, a couple from Antwerp, Belgium who have lived there for 6 months each year for the last 5 years.  Our other hotels were also very nice B&Bs.  We stayed at Tunjung Mas in Ubud and at Tropical Bali Hotel in Sanur on the Southeast coast.

Balinese Dance

Rice field

While we did quite a bit of touring while we were in North Bali, on the second leg of our trip, we spent most of our time in Ubud.  Ubud is known as Bali’s artist and cultural capital.  We enjoyed the Kekac Fire Trance Dance and Legong of Mahabrata Balinese Dance along with all the boutique shopping.  Jen, Mark and I took an early morning walk 8km outside of town though a verdant rice field.  The Monkey Forest, located not far from our hotel, was one of our favorite attractions.  The monkeys roam freely and can offer quite a show.  We saw mating, masturbating and nursing along with nit picking and playing.  One monkey, who sat next to me, tried to untie my pants and showed his sharp teeth and growled when I jumped out of his reach.

Mom protects her babe

Now just hold still

While in Ubud, we bid Jen farewell.  She was a wonderful travel companion and a seasoned bargainer.   No thanks to Jen we all caught the bargaining bug and spent more than we needed to but we had lots fun (that is the girls)!

On our way to Sanur, our last stop, we visited Goa Gajah, the Elephant Cave Temple.  Although the cave was not that impressive, the ancient Buddhist carvings in the small spring were lovely and well worth the walk.

Sanur, like Lovina, is a beach town.  We did catch a day on the beach where despite sunscreen Mark and Amy both got quite a burn.  The weather during our time in Sanur was generally overcast but we did luck out seeing Tanah Lot, a temple perched on an off-shore island, and Uluwatu, another temple in the ocean with a very aggressive monkey population, before the rain came.  Later that evening, we experienced one of the most beautiful sunsets anyone of us had ever seen in Jimbaran on the Southwestern coast.

Our last night on the beach

Amy feeling the love

The photo doesn't do it justice:  the Most beautiful sunset

Bali is a beautiful island with a wonderful color palette.  It is hot and humid and boasts lush jungles and terraced rice fields.  The fresh fruits including mangosteen, guava, rambutin, coconuts, papaya, mangoes, durian and jackfruit are commonplace.  Bali is culturally rich and for a Westerner exotic.  Although much has changed since I was last here 27 years ago, much remains the same.  It is still a magical place.