lesotho: maseru and thaba bosiu

Maseru is the capital of Lesotho. Despite getting a ride from the family I met part of the way, it still took me a good part of the day to get to Maseru.

The family dropped me off in Butha Buthe, where I found the local taxi rank and climbed in the next taxi to go. I only had to wait an hour, which was nice.

Though I only had to wait an hour for the taxi to start moving, it felt as though we stopped every ten seconds or so to pick up more people, or drop someone off. A few times I was convinced it would be faster for me to get out and walk. The driver honked at every pedestrian he saw, slowing down plenty of times in case they wanted a ride. Since I just wanted to move, I was frustrated.

After a while I was told I needed to switch vehicles, and this next one would take me to Maseru. Since I had no idea where I was, or where this first taxi would continue on to, I did what I was told.

Eventually, I got to Maseru. It took a while, but I was there, yay!

My lonely planet guidebook had a basic map of Maseru, and there were a couple places noted for accomodation. Since I had no service on my phone, I was dependent on this map. I should've bought a SIM card a couple days earlier, when I first entered the country.

After figuring out how to get out of the bus station, I started walking. Getting out of this area took me a while, as the map was only basic, and didn't show all the small alleys and stores and such. I walked back and forth over the same area a few times to figure it out.

I walked to the first accomodation mentioned. At least, that is where I thought I was going. Only, I never found what I was looking for. I kept walking, in case it was further along the street. I walked for quite a while, but didn't see any buildings, let along a hotel/hostel.

So I looked up the next place listed. Go figure, it wasn't anywhere else. I wasn't thrilled about more walking, since I was carrying my pack, but I had no other options. Argh. I thought I followed the map in the book, but somehow got turned around. Eventually I ended up on the main street of the city, though not in the way I intended.

I walked and walked and walked. I thought I was following the map, but there were no street signs, so i didn't really have any idea where I was. What kind of capital city doesnt have street signs in the city center??? Let me tell you: the capital city of a country with very little infrastructure.

At one point I decided to buy a local SIM card for my phone. I figured if nothing else, I could at least figure out where I was, and if the accomodation I was heading for actually existed. I bought the SIM card, and put some money on it. I used the credit to buy data, and immediately felt better when I opened google maps and saw the little blue dot and street names.

I found my way to the place I wanted, and was able to book a room for two nights. I think the lady was quite surprised to see me out of the blue, as it was not in the city center. I sat around for a little while, enjoying how good it felt to take off my pack.

Eventually I went back out, walking down the hill and back toward the city center. I wanted to go into the information center, but that was closed already. It was only 1600! Argh. Another example of the lack of tourist infrastructure in this country.

I kept walking back along the main street, and eventually came to the supermarket I'd seen when going the other way with my pack. I wandered through there, comparing prices to what I'd seen in South Africa. I already knew that I could use rand and maloti interchangeably in this country, which was a relief.

I kept going on the street, passing a war memorial. As with the memorials I'd seen in South Africa, it was mostly focused on WW1. I'm not sure why, but there was a crocodile (not real,) on top of the memorial. I walked almost all the way back to the bus station where I'd arrived in the city. Since I knew where I was, I wasn't so afraid to continue walking.

I ended up finding dinner at a food court of sorts. Thank goodness I found the area, as there didn't seem to be anything in the way of cafes or restaurans as I know them. The guidebook didn't have anything to offer either.

That night I was happy to discover the heating pad on the bed. Maseru is lower than Oxbow or Mokhotlong, but it wasn't very warm.

The next morning I got to have another hot breakfast, and this one more than made up for the crappy one I'd had in Mokhotlong. Fried eggs, a chicken patty, beans, tomatoes, yogurt, tea, cereal, fruit, toast, and oatmeal. I was happy.

The lady running the place was able to arrange a taxi ride for me to get to the one place I wanted to see. It was a more than reasonable price as far as I could tell. The driver picked me up an hour later.

The driver took me to Thaba Bosiu, a place of honour and respect for the Basotho people. The drive was around 45 minutes, I think, though I didn't pay that much attention.

Thaba Bosiu is where the Basotho Kingdom was founded, where the first king lived on top of the mountain, defending and growing his kingdom.

The driver first took me to a church across the street from the mountain. My driver asked the caretaker, who gave me the background of the church: it was in the same spot as the first evangelical church in the country, founded in 1833. This church was simple, with a beautiful stained glass window at the back.

Next we went to the visitors center of Thaba Bosiu. The guide working there wanted me to wait until 1400 for a tour, an idea that didn't thrill me since it was only 1145 at the time. I said that wasn't going to happen, since I didnt have anything to do during the time in between. I didnt want to drive back to Maseru, then come out again.

In the end, the guide took me and my driver, and we started walking. The guide told me the stories and legends of the mountain, and pointed out different historically important areas on the top of the mountain. It's not a tall mountain by anyone's standards, but it's not a slow mosey to get to the top either. My driver was huffing and puffing more than I was, hee hee.

One of the places the guide pointed out was a pile of rocks, and he had me add another rock. He said this was where visitors back in the day would've left their weapons. It was a sign of respect to come unarmed when visiting the leader of a kingdom. It was also demanded by the hosts, to keep their leader safe.

Another place pointed out was the cemetery of the royal family. I could see the tombs of King Moshoeshoe 1^st, and King Moshoeshoe 2^nd. As each was buried in the custom of the time, the second tomb is a lot bigger and more noticeable than the first.

I got to see reproductions of the house where the first king lived, and where his second wife (his favourite,) lived. Not all the wives of the king (there were 140, give or take!!) lived on the mountain, and not all of those relationships were even consummated.

Marrying the king was a way of bringing more land to the kingdom, and nearly all the people of Lesotho consider themselves to be descendents of the first king.

The guide showed me where Parliament met, and told me all the representatives were men. Cue the sexist jokes. I reminded him there would be no men without women.

Off one side of the mountain I could see another hill, in the shape of the traditional "Basotho hat." The guide pointed it out to me, and had me take one of those posed photos where it kinda looks like you're holding onto something big. It kinda looked like I was picking up the top of the 'hat.'

It was easy to see why the king chose the top of this mountain as the seat of his kingdom, as there are views over the entire surrounding area. It was very difficult for anyone to put together a surprise attack. That being said, there are legends in the kingdom about attackers coming at night and being repelled by something sortof like magic.

Afterward, my driver took me back to my room, and dropped me off. I picked up some mail I'd been carrying around, and walked to the post office. It took me a while to find the right counter, but it ended up being quite cheap. Yay!!

After the post office, I walked to the one sight of the town: a Roman Catholic church. As far as I could tell, this was the only official sight in town, it's hard to miss. I walked in, and sat for a few minutes. Sooo much quieter than the chaos outside.

My next stop was another supermarket. They didnt have any food I wanted, but I ended up buying three bottles of glycerine because they were 100mL bottles, which are perfect for traveling. When I got back to my room, I emptied them out, and instead filled them with lotion, so I no longer had to carry around a big bottle.

The next morning I had another giant breakfast before packing up. I walked down the hill, and followed the main street to the border, which wasn't all that far away.

This visit to Lesotho was far too short. I want to come back with a rental car, and more time. I want to see more of the natural beauty of the country, and learn more of the culture.

spain: montserrat

the next day i woke up and decided to go for another day trip...i made sure i was up early enough to walk to the train station and catch the earliest train to montserrat...it's a popular enough place to visit for tourists that the ticket machines offer a special combined (train and cable car) ticket...very convenient, yay!!
the train took me to a stop called montserrat, then i crossed the tracks and got in the queue for the cable car...the cable car took everyone halfway up the mountain...from there you can hop on a funicular to go higher up, or you can hike higher up without taking the funicular...

people go to montserrat because it's a beautiful location, and because it offers two things: culture and nature...montserrat is a monastery halfway up a mountrain...the outside of each building is rather bland, but the insides are very nice looking...the basilica is beautiful, and big...on the back wall, a little over halfway up the wall is a display case showing the black virgin...
there is a separate queue to go up close to the black virgin, i joined the line...when i jumped in, it was 'only' a 45 minute line, walking through several chapels along the way...

the guidebook says the queue is more than 2 hrs long later in the day...wow! there is someone standing close to the black virgin who keeps the line moving, you only get a few second by yourself in front of the black virgin...
by the time i got out of that line, the basilica was closed until 1200 for a worship service...to fill time, i started walking...i ended up going all the way up to where the funicular takes people...i had great views the whole time, looking out over the area...awesome...i was hot, and hoping the heat rash and heat exhaustion from the day before didn't get worse...two russian guys also hiking took off their shirts when they got hot...

as i returned to the basilica, i arrived not too long before another service started, this one open to visitors...the priest started by welcoming everyone in spanish, english, french, italian, and german...the first prayer was the Lord's Prayer, i loved hearing it spoken in all the languages of the visitors...
to get back to barcelona i did everything in reverse...cable car down the mountain, train back to the city...
if i had the chance, i'd go back to montserrat for more hiking!

argentina: quebrada de humahuaca

we hopped on an early morning bus from salta to tilcara...the ride is about three hours, and i made the mistake of not eating breakfast first...by the time we arrived, i was NOT feeling good...the road wasnt particularly twisty, but i still felt as though i was going to puke...this was a huge disappointment, because the scenery was awesome, and i was annoyed at myself for not being able to relax and take it in...
the quebrada de humahuaca is a stunning area in northern argentina...the mountains are a wide variety of colours...greens, pinks, purples, reds, browns...amazing...it would've been even more amazing without all the wind...

i know it all has to do with minerals, and where they are when layers of sediment are created, but it's still hard to understand how some of the land in this area looks like God created it while on an acid trip...
we arrived in tilcara, it was dusty and windy...we were able to find a place to stay, electricity was out in the entire town for the time being...it doesn't mean much when a hostel says it has free wifi if electricity is out during the entire day, most days...
i needed food, badly, so we found an empanada place...yum...is it ever possible to eat too many empanadas? i dont think so...

we followed the map we got from tourist information to make our way to pucara, which are the ruins of a fortress...now the area is taken over by cacti...some dead, some alive...the inside of a dead cactus is a bit sad, really...it was really windy and dusty, so photos dont look very dramatic...i tried to be nice to the cacti, they were not nice to me...booo...somehow i ended up with cacti prickles in my toe? is that considered free acupuncture?
some of this fortress has been rebuilt, it looks terrible...(my opinion of course)...there are no windows in any of the buildings, apparently this is how it would've been back in the day...considering how much sun this area receives, that would make life rather depressing..

there is a rather large monument to geologists in the middle of a platz, no one was thinking about aesthetic appeal when that was approved...
after the fortress we started to walk to an area called the garganta del diablo (devil's throat)...along the way we ran into people coming back the other way who said it was closed (it's a canyony area) due to high winds...boooo...bo sat down to rest for a while, i kept walking just because i wanted to move, and the wind had calmed down a little...
we started dinner with candles everywhere...cooking must be more of a challenge if you can't see very well...power came back on as we were eating...

i ordered coca tea to drink, and no, i didn't feel anything...coca leaves are sold on the street in this part of the country...my meal was llama filet, which was rather tough and chewy...i can now check llama off the list of animals i've eaten...don't need to do that again...
breakfast was not ready on time the next morning, we had to head to the bus station before we found anyone to get the food out...argh...our bus took us to the town of humahuaca...it's the last of the little towns in this area, and i would consider it the most authentic...it's definitely been affected by tourism, but it hasn't been taken over by tourism...the local meat and veg market is very authentic, we loved walking around...i've never seen yellow and red speckled potatoes before...and green potatoes too!! too bad we couldn't buy food and cook with it...

according to the guidebook, locals in this town speak the native language, not spanish...
for snack we had empanadas made to order...YUM...i could've sat at that stall all day long, just eating...the lady had such a rhythm, it was awesome...she would make an empanada, then drop it in the fryer; the whole process took about 10 seconds...
people in this area still wear traditional dress, and have amazing faces...SO MANY PHOTOS...
we walked across a small bridge, i saw a cactus garden of sorts...again i tried to make nice with the cacti (doesn't everyone love a hug?) and again they weren't having anything to do with it...bo ended up talking with a local guy who played a mini-guitar sort of instrument...

in the 'city centre' is a giant monument dedicated to the independence heroes...it's gaudy and doesn't fit in with anything else in the town...there is a large platz in front of the monument, filled with souvenir stands...we left town just as a couple large tour buses arrived...
the bus took us to a teensy tinsy place called uquia, it's a short ride...tourists stop in uquia to see a small church with interesting paintings on the walls...the paintings are of the angels, but with a twist...they're all wearing colonial clothing, and carrying weapons...it's quite strange! an angel carrying a blunderbuss? the church is open only a few hours each day (2 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon) so you have to think about your travel/bus timing...

we also walked in the area behind the village, it's gorgeous...the mountains were mostly red, but there was so much colour...there was one other couple, that was it...i loved the quiet...we found a red sand dune, and a canyon...if we'd had more time in argentina, the entire area of the quebrada de humahuaca is one place i would've extended our stay, to do more hiking...
we didn't have to wait long for the next bus to tilcara, thank goodness...we picked up ham and cheese tortillas from ladies running grills on the street...yum

there is a tourist market set up around a park in tilcara, and after looking through every scarf option available, i finally bought one...i bargained a little, but not much, as i don't enjoy it, at all...i paid 45 pesos, the girl had a very difficult time finding change for the 50 peso note i handed her...
we ended up going to the same place for dinner...i had a thick stew...
the next morning i wore boots for the first time during this trip...it was COLD...we caught a bus to purmamarca, not too far away...it was snowing lightly as we arrived, bo was not thrilled...he didn't have much winter clothing with him...fortunately, i had an extra pair of gloves and hat...

purmamarca is completely overrun with tourism...i doubt anyone in that town isn't somehow related to the industry...it's another beautiful area, but it's still sad to see this happen...(and since we visited, we only contributed)...booo...since the town is based entirely on tourism, there is no central bus station...a bunch of different companies offer tickets to nearby towns, but there is no specific station...
we followed a trail called the hill of seven colours...i loved it...even though there were plenty of other people doing the same thing we were, it didn't feel too crazy...(that being said, i would not want to be doing this hiking in high season)...this trail goes around and through a few hills...

at first it was cloudy, which was annoying in terms of trying to take photos...then the sun came out and the photos started to begin to show the breathtaking views...
fortunately, i found postcards...heaps of them, not surprisingly...
we caught a bus to the city of jujuy (which i love just because the name sounds cool) and used that as a transfer point for another bus, to salta...in salta we dropped our bags at the station, and wandered around the town again to kill time before our night bus...

gunung rinjani

When I arrived in senggigi, I thought I’d be staying two nights, so that’s what i paid for at my hotel…it turned out that I signed up for a rinjani trek starting the next morning, so I arranged with the lady at the hotel for my payment to cover the night I came back from the trek…she also said she’d put some fruit in the fridge for me to grab in the morning, since breakfast isn’t served that early…YAY!!

0500 pickup…ugh…I wasn’t thrilled about that, to say the least…to make sure I was ready to go, I had my alarm set for 0400…I wasn’t going to be taking everything with me on the trek, so I needed a bit of time to separate things, and I never move fast at that hour, though I do function…the taxi (I was surprised it was a taxi) picked up another trekker just down the road, a British student named Richard…then it took us two hours to a village called senaru…senaru is where all the trekking companies have their offices, and it’s always the starting or ending point of treks up and down the volcano…

Richard and I had arranged to start our trek in a village called sembalun, off the western edge of the volcano…after leaving stuff behind, a ute took us to sembalun with our guide and porter, where we got our official national park entry tickets, and signed the book saying that we were trekking…(safety, I guess?)…this was when I found out Richard was only 20 years old!! He’s in Lombok and Bali for a couple weeks with his mom…then she goes back to the UK, and he travels overland up to Mongolia…

The first bit of the trek was through flattish ground…always aiming up a little, but nothing strenuous…everyone was sweating because the sun was behind us and quite strong, but it wasn’t hard…yet…we broke for lunch not long after the trail got steeper…it was still an easy path, just a bit more steep…I wondered why we needed a guide, because there seemed to be just one path, it wasn’t as if we could get lost…lunch was basically ramyeon, with rice as well…and pineapple and tea…most trekking companies break for meals at the same places along the trail, so we met several others who were doing the trek in the same direction we were walking…one American geologist couple who live on Sumatra, a Swedish/French couple…

After lunch we kept going, for another hour or so before taking a break…this was where the ground got steep, there were lots of roots and rocks to watch out for, climb over, etc…our guide told us it would be another three hours to the top…by that point we were all feeling it a bit, and well aware we’d be knackered when we got to the top…when the guide said three hours, I gave myself four hours in my head, as I know I’m slower than most trekkers…slow, but steady…I don’t like taking breaks, and apparently my guide and Richard did…at one point I stopped taking the breaks with them, I just kept going…I wanted to get to the top, and I knew that every time we stopped it got harder for me…it was hard going, and I wanted to be finished for the day…after not too long, we hiked into the clouds…clouds have a strange way of completely muffling sound, I couldn’t hear anything but my footsteps…

Surprisingly, three hours later I did get to the top…the crater rim, that is…I guess all the break taking slowed others down, though they were faster hikers than I was…just before reaching the top I broke through the clouds, so I could see where I was going, and I could see the peak we’d be going for the next morning…what I couldn’t see was anything down either side of the crater…I knew there was a lake in the crater, but I couldn’t see it at all…not surprisingly, our porter made it up before we did…I don’t know how they do it, carrying everything, and only wearing jandals…he had both of the tents set up, and had water heating to make tea…not only does everyone break for meals at the same place, just about everyone camps in the same area…some tents were definitely nicer than others…lol…people who’d signed up for the luxury treks had little stools on which to sit, the rest of us sat on the ground when we weren’t in our tents…I was rather surprised at the amount of trash on the ground, I guess porters don’t clean up all that well, which is really disappointing…that, and they use trees to make fires, instead of bringing stoves…I get the impression that environmentally, the ways the treks are being done right now won’t be sustainable for much longer…

About 45 minutes later Richard made it up, I was sitting in our tent, writing a letter…just as he got there, our porter brought us tea…yum…about an hour after that, dinner was served…fried rice with a fried egg on top…and a giant prawn cracker…and a piece of fried chicken…normally I like prawn crackers, but this one seemed particularly fishy tasting, so I only had a couple bites…and I’m not big on nasi goring (fried rice) so I only ate about half of that…Richard and I went to be almost as soon as we were done eating, I think most people did so as well…we knew we had to get up early (REALLY early,) and the hike had worn people out…plus, there was no view to enjoy, with the clouds covering everything…

0230 came pretty early…that’s when our guide woke us with tea (and coffee for Richard)…that and a few crackers was our predawn snack…at 0307, we were on our way…up…up…up…the idea was to go for the peak of the crater rim, which is at 3724m I think…3700m+, and I earned every one of them…almost from the beginning of this part of the trek, the path was made of soft sand/dirt/scree…there weren’t many strong footholds, so it took a lot more effort to make forward progress…plus, it was pitch black…I had my head torch so I could see where to put my feet, but I didn’t have any sense of where I was…challenging, to say the least…I had no idea where my guide was, again…somewhere in front of me, until he was taking a break and I kept going…I kept going slowly and steadily until I got to a really windy spot…REALLY WINDY…the kind of wind where you have to turn your head to the side, because you can’t see (if it was light anywho) or breath properly…the path was really challenging the entire way…I briefly stopped behind a rock, along with about 15 others…the rock blocked the wind very nicely, you didn’t notice how strong it was until you stood up again…I think people were waiting out the wind, or maybe waiting for sunrise…either way, I didn’t want to keep waiting…I knew the distance left wasn’t great, but it was only going to get harder, so I stepped into the wind, and started moving forward again…

Not long after that rock, the going got really really hard…I have no idea what distance I had left, but the path changed again, into even less sturdy stuff…the rocks were completely loose, there was no traction whatsoeva…combine that with the vertical aspect, and quite a few times I was essentially on a natural treadmill…taking steps, but not making any forward progress at all…at all…so frustrating…plus, the wind was still going strong, so I couldn’t stand up straight…each time I picked up my head to see where I needed to go (by this point the sun was starting to come up, I could see shadows) the wind would catch me and push me a bit…which wasn’t good, considering the path was fairly thin, and it would’ve been easy to fall over either side of the crater…I cried more than once, when I wasn’t making any progress…sometimes the wind got so strong I was sliding down the path without picking up my head at all…I was so unhappy…eventually, I made it…four hours after starting the hike, I made it to the peak…a ray of light shown on the peak, which was quite nice…the view from the peak wasn’t any better than what  I’d seen on the way up…I did it, and that’s about all I can say…it wasn’t worth the physical pain, the mental stress, or the views…it turned out that because of the crazy wind, not many people made it to the top…only 7 of us…no guides…I was number 4…a lot of people got to the rock I mentioned earlier, or just a bit farther before turning around, including Richard…about the only reason I made it to the top was because I didn’t want to say I didn’t make it…that’s a terrible way to find motivation, but that’s how it worked for me…

The way back down hurt…as tired as my legs were from going up, they weren’t ready for going down…the soft stuff was fun to go down, there was almost no impact…with each step I’d land on my heel, and sortof slide a bit…a few times my legs kindof gave out on me, so I fell/sat…surprisingly, my guide was waiting for me behind the rock, and came back down to camp with me…given how weak my legs felt at that point, it was probably a good thing he was there…the hardest point was right before reaching camp, as there were a number of actual steps down, and my legs weren’t supporting me very well…lots of falling on my arse…I was so tired…

Breakfast was tea again, (I only dumped 8lbs of sugar into itJ) and banana pancakes…sooo good…lots of sugar, which I sorely needed…after eating, I dumped out my shoes…there was an amazing amount of dirt/sand in them…I tried wiping off my backpack and coat, but that didn’t do much…I used two wet tissues to wipe off my face, they were both black when I was done with them…and I knew I had dirt in my nose…my nose always runs when I’m going up steeply, and all the wind had added a bunch of dirt…I had dirt coming out of my nose for the next two days!...

About 45 minutes later, we packed up, and started making our way down into the crater…my legs were not enjoying this down, it wasn’t s smooth path…every foot had to be placed, and it was a constant game of picking out the easiest way…and none of it was easy…my quads were screaming with every step down…after a little over an hour, the path evened out a bit…it was still going down, but not so steeply, and it was more of a dirt path, not rocks and roots everywhere…

Two hours and fifteen minutes total after breakfast, we got to the lake at the bottom of the crater…it felt like a lot longer than that, but that’s what my watch told me…the flatter parts of the path were surprisingly easy for me, but the steep, step picking parts were really hard…our guide showed us where we’d be eating lunch, then took us to some hot springs…the springs are right next to a lovely waterfall…the locals have built different pools, all of them rather small…people sit in them for as long as they like…Richard put on his togs, and hopped in…I had a bikini with me, but wasn’t completely comfortable putting that on, so I just stuck my feet in the hottest pool…it felt wonderful…putting my shoes and socks back on afterward didn’t feel so wonderful…

Lunch was the same as the day before, and I gobbled it up…

Our afternoon hike started along the edge of the lake, which was really nice…there is very little shoreline in some places between the lake and the crater wall going up…lots of locals fishing…In an area with more space between the lake and the crater wall, I saw a few fish being cooked over a fire…it looked sooo good…my guide said that the fish are sometimes sold to trekkers…too bad, we didn’t get any fish…eventually the guide started us on a path up…just like the second half of the day before…up…up…up…climbing up roots and rocks, very little flat area…lots of step picking…lots of using my hands as balance on various rocks…it would’ve been hard to begin with, but combined with what I’d done earlier in the day, and the day before made it even more difficult…fortunately, the guide had figured out that I go slowly, and steadily…he only took a couple breaks, during which I drank a whole lot of water…we never went fast, so my breathing never got crazy…more than once I hoped for a magic fairy to come and fly me to the top…thankfully, there were lots of great views over the lake, and the little volcano in the middle…

Two and a half hours later, we got back up to the crater rim…our camping spot was right on the edge of the rim…there was room for just two tents, and two more tents about 10m away…I didn’t know where others were camping, but it felt a lot more private this evening…dinner was again served at 1800, again preceeded by tea…and again Richard and I went to sleep almost as soon as we were done with eating…10.5 hours of hiking in one day…very little of it was “easy”…

Our third day was the easiest, but that’s just a relative term…we did get to sleep in, all the way to 0630…I could hear the guide and porter moving around at 0600…after breakfast, (banana pancakes and a sandwich made with white bread – the crusts were cut off) we started making our way down around 0730…the first two hours and some were steep…lots of steep, step picking…going over and around roots and rocks…where as my legs had been really tired, and not functioning so well the day before, they hadn’t been too painful…this third day every step hurt, and my feet hated me…I wonder if I’ll lose any toenails…after a couple hours of this steep stuff, we got a few patches of smoother trail, which felt like heaven…still going down, but I didn’t have to worry so much about falling down a mountain…

We passed numerous porters, guides and trekkers going the other way, and I was glad I wasn’t them…we stopped a couple times for water, and once for the last pineapple the porter was carrying…good, and I wasn’t keen to eat a full lunch anywho…

About 5 hours after starting, we got to the end of the trek…a van picked us up and took us back to where I’d left the rest of my stuff…then it took us back to senggigi…I’m amazed Richard could stand to be in the same van with me, I know I smelled disgusting…layers of sweat and dirt…yuck…he had a flight to catch that night with his mom to Bali…thankfully I didn’t have much to do, I didn’t need to worry about reorganizing my stuff so fast…

A shower has rarely felt that good!

central bali: munduk and around

After the longer than necessary trip to tanah lot, I figured it was a good idea to get a proper map of bali…I’ve always loved maps…I feel much more secure when I can point to where I am on a map…after looking at the map for a while, I figured out how I’d taken the long way to get to the temple…figuring that out also made it easier for me to figure out how to drive north…I’d been baking on beaches for a little over a week, and I’m as dark as I have ever been…(which still isn’t dark compared to some people, but that’s besides the point…you should see my tan lines!)

I counted on getting lost several times while trying to bypass denpasar, and I tend to drive more slowly than most people on this island, so I got on the road early…it was Sunday morning, which meant there wasn’t a whole lot of traffic…yay! I managed to get all the way to munduk without having to turn around at all…woo hoo!! I was actually able to keep track of where I was the whole time…signage isn’t always there, but I’ve gotten better about guessing which way to go if I’m forced to make a turn…when going through towns the main road often turns several times, which is hugely annoying…I’m always terrified I’ve gotten off the main road without knowing it…

I was only wearing shorts and a shirt, figuring that would be enough…but as I got north of denpasar, I realized I was constantly going up, at least a little…and I was cold…eventually I pulled over and put on my jacket from lululemon…(thanks mom!!)…it didn’t block the wind completely, but it made a big difference…toward the end of the drive, the road was a lot steeper, and quite twisty…when it went through shady patches it was downright cold, I was relieved to have the jacket…at a couple points along the twisty parts of the road I saw places on the side of the road where people could pull off and enjoy the view…with a whole lot of monkeys joining them…what is it with this island and monkeys?  I’ve had enough monkeys for the time being, lol…

The last 10km or so to munduk involved driving along the ridge of a crater…a lake on one side, hills and rice paddies and coffee plantations on the other side…fantastic views all around…more twisting road, so I wasn’t able to look around nearly as much as I would’ve liked, but I spotted a few lookouts, and knew I could come back…munduk itself isn’t anything exciting…just a little hill town…not even a town really, just a village…I found a place to stay on my first try…it’s twice as much as what I was paying in kuta, but it’s at least twice as good…breakfast is included, there is a drying rack, they provided a towel and toilet paper, the lighting is good, the view is amazing, the room is spotless and there is a mirror…

After settling in and figuring out what I wanted to see, I got back on the bike…drove back in the direction from which I came, stopping at a few of the viewpoints…at the last place I stopped, I zoomed in a bit with my camera and saw a temple…it looked a bit like the temple I’ve seen on gbillions of postcards, and it looked like there were a lot of people there…when I got to the bottom of the particular hill, I realized traffic was absolutely nuts…soooo many cars and bikes pulled off the road to park…I didn’t know where I’d find an official spot, so I just pulled over where I found room, and started walking from there…

I thought I was going to see the famous temple…but I was wrong…the temple I did see has a very similar name though, and is on the edge of the lake, as opposed to on the lake itself…I saw pura ulun danu buyan…it turned out that the gathering I’d seen from above was a political group gathering…PDI PERJUANGAN…according to angie there are over 180 political parties in Indonesia…the colours of this party were red and black, and everyone was wearing them…flags all over…I could hear plenty of comments in English as I walked down the path, but I pretended not to…across from the temple there was a stage set up, and just as I got there, someone started speaking…needless to say, I didn’t understand a word…lucky for me, the temple was completely deserted…I didn’t know whether I’d be able to go in, but the gates were open…it wasn’t a very exciting temple, I think it’s relatively new…

On the way back I had to walk past all the same people…being a single, blond foreigner makes me really nervous at times…fortunately, it was easy to get back into traffic from where I’d parked…driving down the road I got to the turnoff to the temple I’d been looking for the first time…pura ulun danu bratan…(notice how similar the names are)…there was a big carpark, and I was directed where to go…at tourist spots like these there is usually an area for motorbikes…I bought my entrance ticket after passing a bunch of souvenir stalls…(just in case you REALLY need that bingtang t-shirt right now)…it was crowded with tourists, but not unbearably so…tourist money gets put to use, the temple is in really good shape…unless you’re a local and in traditional garb, you don’t get to go in a few areas, which is fine by me…I was able to see the temple on the lake, and have my photo taken with it…people in general were doing a good job of noticing others taking photos and staying out of them…yay!! It was sunny, the sky was blue, life is goodJ

I ended up eating lunch across the street…

Driving back toward munduk I stopped at even more viewpoints…so pretty…I like the lake side views better than the valley side views…I stopped at a tiny area that said parking for a waterfall…it said 246m to the waterfall, but I’m guessing that meant height, not distance…there was a clear path, much of it steps…some of the steps were quite large…I’ve got good knees, but that wouldn’t have been easy for anyone with slightly bad knees…I heard the waterfall before I saw it…quite pretty…15m or 20m high? To get to a decent viewpoint, you cross over the top of the waterfall, then come down…when I crossed it I didn’t realize just how close I was to the top of the falls…there is a tiny little restaurant looking over the falls…peaceful, and quiet…the water falls hard enough that you can feel the splash a ways out…I liked that…unfortunately, you can’t hike behind the falls…I followed the path a little way down the creek, to see if it went anywhere in particular…It didn’t…

Climbing back up I drove back the rest of the way to munduk, skipping signs for another waterfall…maybe tomorrow? I parked my bike at my guesthouse, (they call themselves a homestay, but it is more of a guesthouse) and took off walking…walking to the edge of town didn’t take long…along the way I passed tourist information, so I stopped in to ask about possible treks in the area…I’d like to trek, but don’t really want to pay a fortune to do it…at that point it seemed like it had been a long day already, though I don’t think it had in reality…I read in my room for a while before going to get food at a local warung…I ordered something written on the menu outside, but she said they didn’t have it…oh well…I had something else and it was fine…

A number of the treks I’d seen in the information office had waterfalls, and my guidebook had a couple listed, including the one I’d seen my first day in the area…my second day in the area ended up being a day of waterfalls…I started by going to gitgit, which angie had recommended…I had to get back to the main road, and head north…the entire way there was twisty, and I was constantly amazed at the blind corners on which people passed…I don’t have the guts for that kind of driving…I was expecting a bigger sign, but I only saw one…and the carpark was tiny…the guidebook said entrance was 6000rp, but it was only 3000rp…(less than $1USD either way, so it didn’t matter much)…there is a path all the way to the waterfalls…there were actually quite a few in this spot…while first walking on the path I came to a spot where I could either keep going straight, or cross a bridge…I went straight, and eventually got to a spot where I saw two waterfalls pouring into the same pool…beautiful…I could see a rainbow toward the bottom, but it doesn’t come up very clearly in any of the photos…I had fun putting my camera on a timer and posing…I can be really shallow sometimesJ…after running down the battery, I walked across the bridge and followed that way until I got to see a whole bunch more waterfalls…each of them very different from the others…awesome…after checking out every path I could find, (including one that took me close to someone’s home, and the dogs came howling after me) I got back to my motorbike, and drove a little further…

the guidebook said there was a second set of waterfalls about 2km down the road, and angie had mentioned something like that as well…the second set was by donation, and the donation wasn’t actually required, which was nice…I gave anywho…this set of waterfalls wasn’t nearly as good as the first bunch…but there were several more paths to check out, and at one point I realized I’d hiked back up to the first set of waterfalls…nifty…I realized that when I ended up in front of a house I’d walked by earlier…I was about to go back, when I heard a little voice say hello…it wasn’t loud, and I couldn’t figure out where the kid was at first…then I looked up into a tree, and there he was…he then proceeded to rock out, much to my amusement…singing quite loudly, shaking the tree…it was awesome…I watched for a couple minutes, then went back down toward the waterfalls…I checked out every path this time as well, and ended up trekking around for over an hour…fun…it’s a beautiful area…

the only thing I didn’t like about these waterfalls was the way “guides” try to forces themselves upon you…they ask if you want to know anything about the falls, and tell you they are trying to create jobs…they start to walk with you, and you have to say no thanks, I just want to walk by myself…if you let them walk with you, they’ll end up asking for a guides fee when you leave, and it’s usually quite large…I know that much of what is said wouldn’t be remembered, and I don’t need a guide when I can see the paths on my own…I did end up seeing several small groups with guides, though none of them were the guys who tried to talk to me after I parked my bike…I’m guessing these were official trekking guides, and that these people had signed up for treks the day before…given that I found various paths on my own, I was relieved I hadn’t signed up for a trek…I’m sure they have plenty of information, and could’ve shown me great places, but I was content with what I did…

on the way back to munduk I saw a pretty temple and pulled over to check it out…I don’t know how I’d missed it on the way down, but I guess it wasn’t in my line of sight as I was driving…the main area was closed, but the front bit was open…I’m guessing it’s a fairly new temple, the rock still had really sharp edges from the carving, and no moss growing…at least, not yet…

the waterfall I’d skipped yesterday was where I stopped next…there were two carparks for this one, each really small…and unlike yesterday, there was an entrance fee for this one…still less than $1USD, so I’m not complaining…the path took me straight there, the only time I had to choose which way to go was at the spot I paid the entrance fee…there was a sign there pointing which way to go, so I went…that was the most crowded place I went all day…four other people were at the bottom of the waterfall when I arrived…it was pretty, though not spectacular…the falls were thin, but strong…a couple of the guys had clearly gone swimming…as I walked back up to my bike, I took the other path at the ticket office, just to see where it went…it ended up at the back side of a resort, after winding through quite a lot…I’m pretty sure that’s not the way people usually get to the resort, as the path was quite narrow…

after returning to my bike I realized I was quite hungry, and had a very very late lunch at a roadside warung…I got to have what I wanted last night, yay…from there it was back to my room, where I finished a book and relaxed for the rest of the eveningJ