back in indo...again

After a day and a half in kuta, I went back to amed for a couple days…it was really nice to pull into the place I’d stayed before, they recognized me and had huge smiles on their faces…the family is so nice…and they remembered what I wanted for dinner each night, including my love of their banana milkshakes…hee hee…

The second day in amed I drove around the peninsula, there are some great views…sometimes the road is great, sometimes not so much…lots of people on the streets said hello as I drove past, it was fun…I kept stopping to take photos, it’s all so beautiful…most of those stops were after nearly driving off the road after being distracted by the views…whoops…the map shows one road that goes around the peninsula, it seemed pretty easy, but of course there were plenty of places to make turns, and sometimes I had to guess where I should go…

I was aiming for a place called taman ujung…the water palace…it was labeled on the big road map I had of Bali, and labeled on the map in the guidebook, though there was no description given in the guidebook…I hate it when they put things on a map then don’t describe them…at some point I saw a postcard with this palace, and figured I might as well see what it was…

Eventually, I got there, though I drove by the carpark and had to turn around…it goes into the priciest attractions category, but I was still under budget for the day so I didn’t care much…upon entering, you can see the entire thing, there are no hidden areas to explore…but it’s full of water, and I love water, so I was happy…plus, it didn’t seem to be too crowded when I got there…(crowded in east Bali has a very different definition than crowded in south Bali)…the English on the brochure leaves something to desire, so I’ll try to translate what it says…in other words, I’m not sure about the accuracy of my information…

I think it says it was built by one of the final kings of the kingdom of karangasem…I think it was built just after his coronation in 1919…his name and title is ridiculously long, how does anyone remember? Ida Anak Agung Anglurah Agung Ketut Karangasem.  I wonder what he was called on a daily basis…if I had to use that entire name for someone I probably wouldn’t speak to them unless absolutely necessary!

My favourite part of the visit was watching the wedding photo session of a temple near the main gate…(which is not the gate through which visitors now enter the palace area)…a security guard told me the couple had come from Sumatra, so I’m guessing they had money…the photographer or his assistant was from Taiwan…she was quite pretty, and I liked her dress, the photos probably looked pretty awesome…there was a makeup chic there as well, who kept sponging the sweat off the bride’s face…I wonder how many places they had photos taken that day…and how many photos were taken in total…during a break I took a photos from that gate, trying to get panoramic shots of the entire palace area…who knows how well it worked…

I spent the afternoon on the beach…shocking, I know…

The next day I drove to padangbai…it’s not a place most people spend any time…there are two or three beaches, all quite small…and the waves are crazy…they’re not swimming beaches, and if the tide is up, there is little to no space to catch some rays…I laid out for a little while, watching the waves the whole time…normally I like to get in the water while I’m laying out, but the waves were big enough that I didn’t think that would be a good idea…not surprisingly, I also went to check out the temples in town…my favourite was a small one built into the side of a cliff…I was more fascinated to look out at the waves crashing into the cliff than I was to see the temple itself…sometimes the waves crashed into each other, which made for nice sprays of water…soooo pretty…I probably stood there for 30 minutes, just watching the water…awesome…

Padangbai is mainly the port for ferries going between Lombok and Bali, which go hourly, round the clock…these ferries take four hours or so, and go to a town called lembar…you can also catch fast boats which go directly to the gili islands, which are probably the most popular parts of Lombok to visit…howeva, those fast boats are a whole lot more expensive…and on the gilis, you’re not allowed to have motorbikes…I wanted to see more of Lombok than just the gilis, so I opted for the slower ferry, with my motorbike…as I was pulling into the ferry terminal the police officer waved me over and asked to see my license…

In Indonesia you’re not supposed to drive unless you have an international license…they’re not difficult to get in your home town, but I haven’t been in my hometown in over a year…and even if I’d gotten one before I left the states, it would’ve been expired by now, as they’re only good for a year…I knew this when I rented the motorbike, but it’s not an unusual situation…the people renting motorbikes don’t really care if you have the international license or not…the officer said that when Indonesians don’t have their license while driving, the bike is kept until they can produce the license…I said that would be a problem because my license was with my friend…(I wasn’t about to admit that I didn’t have the license, although I’m sure he figured that out)…then I asked what needed to be done, knowing full well the answer I was going to get…

My first official bribe!! I knew that’s what was coming, and I was asked for less than I expected…only 50,000 rupiah, about $6. Not bad, eh?? I was expecting three times that, so I was pretty happy…he let me go and I went on to get my ferry ticket…I was happy to see that he was checking licenses of locals as well, though I was obviously the only one who didn’t have what I was supposed to have…whoops…

Getting on the ferry was easy…I parked and took my stuff up to an upper deck…about 45 minutes later the ferry left…the ride was smooth, I was thankful…I’m sure at times there must be crazy waves, and since I get seasick pretty easily I was thankful the waves weren’t really around…at least, not this time…almost 5 hours later everyone disembarked in lembar…I had been worried about driving through town, and being able to find the main road out of town…but that wasn’t a problem either, there was plenty of signage…

I drove straight to the town of senggigi…along the way I passed a bunch of mosques…when you’re in Bali it’s easy to forget that Indonesia is the world’s most populated Islamic country, as Bali has remained Hindu…Lombok is definitely Muslim…I love the way mosques have so much variety…

there are a couple beaches in senggigi, though I arrived too late in the day for any sun worshipping…I checked email, since I hadn’t done so in padangbai, and found a job offer…yippee!!! To get the visa I need to send them scans of all the pages in my passport with stamps…hmmm…that’s a fair number of pages…it’s really really nice to have the job search stress over with…(not that I’m going to say where the job is until I get there and start working)

I also found a place that seemed decent for treks up and down gunung rinjani…a big volcano with a lake in the crater…you’re not allowed to trek independently, (not that I have the equipment to do so) so I needed to find a place to sign up for a trek…I signed up for a 3 day/2 night trek…if we trek as long as they say each day, it’ll actually be a fair number of hours of trekking…it’s expensive I guess, but we’ll have a guide, and a porter carrying the stuff like tents, stove, food, etc…plus they pick me up, and will bring me back afterward…

I also checked out a temple…it’s quite small, but offers great views of the sunset…when I got there, a lot of locals were there, worshipping…I didn’t get very close to the altar because that would’ve involved stepping over a lot of people, and I’m not so comfortable doing that…plus, I doubt the altar was much different from anything I’ve already seen in Indonesia…   the temple is on a cliff, right next to a beach…after looking at the temple, I watched local kids playing soccer on the beach…so cute…especially when one kid tried to kick the ball and ended up rolling over it, if that makes any sense…

Dinner was at a road side stand, and I got a local price…yippee!! (it should say something about how rarely that happens that I mention it)…and I got ice creams on the way back to the hotel…yes, I said ice creams…I figured I’d be burning plenty of calories over the next three days…

Again, I woke up early, so I could be ready for the 0500 pickup…ugh…

bali:amed

The drive from the batur area to amed was my longest drive yet…just over three hours…down the mountain on twisty, curvy roads, that were sometimes pretty steep…locals go zipping down those roads at speeds that would terrify me…I suppose if I knew the roads I’d be going a bit faster, but still…then along the coast with glimpses of the water peeking through trees from time to time…on the mountain I was cold…driving through a cloud and winds, I got so cold my teeth started chattering, and my body shaking…and I knew I had to keep going because the only way to warm up was to get down…amed is an area on the east coast of bali…it has only recently begun to develop, but it’s still nothing near the level of kuta/legian/seminyak…the sand is black, the beaches narrow, the water super clear…I’m glad it isn’t as developed, but it won’t stay this way for long…there is a lot of building going on, locals have realized the income possible if tourists come in larger numbers…

I found a place for a reasonable price…it’s smaller than my room in batur, but cheaper…and toilet paper and a towel are provided! After relaxing and settling in, I headed across the street to the beach…I followed a small path, and found the beach…NO ONE ELSE TO BE SEEN…that’s even better than the amazing west coast beaches in new Zealand…I did see and hear a couple goats, but that was it…the sand is black, the waves calm, the water the perfect temperature…I WAS THE ONLY PERSON ON THE BEACH!! At some point a jogger ran by me, and a lady walked past twice as she walked along the beach…but that was it…awesome…

Dinner that night was barracuda in some kind of sauce, with veggies and rice…and one of the best banana milkshakes I’ve ever had…followed by a two hour walk, again it seemed that every guy along the road wanted to offer me transport, diving tomorrow, etc…annoying, but I liked the walk anywho…

The next day about the only thing I did was go to the beach…and eat the same dinner…with two banana milkshakes this timeJ

The third day I got up a little earlier and after breakfast, hopped on the motorbike and drove to a place called tirta ganga…also called the water palace…the guy who built it was really into water, so there are pools all over the place…not surprisingly, after I parked (there was no parking fee, yippee!!) someone tried to attach themselves to me as a guide…I had to be direct, and tell him I wasn’t going to pay him anything…he said he just wanted to tell me some information, but I knew that if I let him continue walking with me he’d demand a “donation” when I left…I enjoy the beauty of places more than anything…I love history and culture too, but with all the temples and such I’ve seen here, I know there is no way I’d be able to keep things straight if I had a guide everywhere…

When I tried to pay the entrance fee (which was only for foreigners, there was no fee for locals) they didn’t have change for me…they told me to come back after I was finished and pay then…gotta love the honour system…I could’ve left w/out paying anything at all, but that would’ve been bad…I enjoyed walking around the area, though I’m not sure where the temple part was…there were stepping stones across one of the pools, and statues, so photos were fun…i’m glad I got there early, as about the time I left a lot more people were arriving…

on the way home i stopped a bunch of different times to take photos of the rice paddies i was seeting everywhere...they were amazing...so beautiful...at one point i got a bit distracted by the photo i was trying to take, and forgot to look at where my feet were...oops...i took a step forward, and before i knew it, was in a rice paddie...whoops...i'd taken a step when a step wasn't there...fortunately, the fall was only a couple feet, and there wasn't anything stick or rock like in the area where i fell...i laughed at myself, and was somewhat embarassed when i got back to my room with mud all over...the camera didn't get wet at all, and that was my first concern...lol...obviously, i had to wash off the seat and foot area of my bike...i have a gazillion photos of rice terraces, so i didn't need to be taking anymore, but there is just something about them that's so beautiful...

After the “temple” it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what I did with the rest of my day…go to the beach of course…followed by the same dinner and drink, and another walk…life is good…

bali:batur

As usual, the drive didn’t take as long as I expected…it ended up being about two and a half hours from lovina to toya bungkah…most of it involved driving up, or along mountain ridges…since I was going toward the middle of the island, and up, I was cold…even though it was sunny…when I got to penelokan, and was able to look out over danau batur (lake batur) and gunung batur (batur volcano) the view was fantastic…a blue, half moon shaped lake next to a volcano with at least two craters to be seen…

Toya bungkah is the starting point for most treks up batur…I didn’t really care to do the trek, I just liked being close to the volcano…and from what I’ve read and seen, there is a LOT of hassle when it comes to trekking in this area…there is one group (the name of which I don’t remember off the top of my head) that has a monopoly on guides for this climb…and  you have to take a guide when you go up the volcano, and it isn’t cheap…I do want to climb up a volcano in Indonesia, just not this one…this area is visited by day trippers from ubud quite a bit I think…

From the porch of my ridiculously HUGE room, with a king size bed, I look out over the lake…beautiful…

After checking in, I got back on my bike and started driving toward the town of tampaksiring…it’s halfway between toya bungkah and ubud…just north of tampaksiring were a couple temples I wanted to see…the first was called tirta empul…it’s one of the most important pilgrimage temples for the Balinese…the temple is situated right next to natural springs…people come and bath in the springs (a couple man made “pools” allow this) then visit the temple…the springs are outside, so everyone bathing is wearing a sarong, and it’s coed…there are spouts all along one edge, and people queue up in front of each one…it’s neat to see…there is even a little locker roomJ…the entrance fee for this temple has more than doubled since lonely planet did it’s research, booo…there is a holy pool (you’re not allowed to get into this one) in the temple itself, if you look at the right spot in the pool you can see water coming up into the pool…the temple itself is otherwise just like so many other temples I’ve seen on bali…just up the hill from the temple is the presidential palace, built by sukharno, (sp?) indonesia’s first president…despite him not being the best of guys, the palace is still used when high muckymucks from other countries visit…getting from the temple back out to the carpark involves going past a gbillion souvenir stalls, which is just plain annoying…

The second temple was called gunung kawi…it’s a candi, meaning there are different groups of altars within the temple complex…and the complex is spread over a small valley…the entrance fee for this one is also more than double what is in the guidebook…I wonder when the prices went up, and how much they were previously…since tampaksiring is relatively close to ubud, I wonder if it’s the eat, pray love factor…argh…and you have to pay for parking at this place too…argh…anywho, to get started, you walk down a whole bunch of steps, past a lot of souvenir stalls…I ignored the ladies telling me to just look, and thought about the fact that I’d have to come back up these steps to get back to my bike…exercise is good, right? What makes this temple unique is that much of it is carved into rock faces…awesome…it was fun wandering all over, hoping I’d seen all the different groupings…a lot of the holes in the rock no longer have anything in them, but they’re still neat to see…there were also some lovely views over rice paddies…coming back up the steps I was breathing hard and dripping sweat…eww…

On the way back to the lake I stopped at a roadside warung, and was actually charged the local price for lunch…woo hoo!! Not only did I get my plate of food, but I got a cup of soup and a glass of water…yay for yummy surprises! The not so good surprise on approaching the lake: having to pay a fee to enter the “tourist area” of gunung batur…nevermind that I’d already been in the area (I didn’t have to pay a fee earlier since I’d come from the other side) and I’m not just checking it out for the day…this is the first fee of that kind I’ve had to pay, and I don’t like it…

The rest of the day I spent camped out on my porch, looking out at the lake and reading…it was rather windy, so I was cold as, with chicken skin…but totally worth it…

My second day in the batur area dawned (yes, I was awake when the sun first came up) not nearly as beautifully…there was a rain cloud hanging over the mountain on the other side of the lake, and as I looked, much of gunung batur was covered as well…a good thing I hadn’t arranged for a trek of any kind, I wouldn’t have been able to see diddly squat…I sat around for a while, working on postcards and writing part of a couple letters, and having banana pancakes for breakfast…

Eventually I got on my bike and started driving up to the crater rim…driving through the clouds…not fun…at all…it wasn’t raining, but it was spitting, and my clothing was definitely not water resistant…there was an unmarked turn as I got to the top of the crater, thankfully someone was around so I could ask which way I needed to go…I was headed in the direction of pura besakih…another temple…this one translates to mother temple…it’s on the most holy mountain in bali, gunung agung…for whateva reason, gunung batur is a lot more popular for climbing…I’m guessing the view is probably better, or something like that…but you can climb agung, and from what I understand, it’s a lot less hassle…

Pura besakih is huge…it isn’t just one temple, it’s actually 22 interconnected temples…in terms of tourism though, it’s not much fun…it seemed like every local there was out to make money from the temple, and I didn’t like that…the entrance fee was the highest I’ve paid yet…at least I didn’t have to pay more for parking or a camera…I had a sarong, but was forced to rent a sash…I don’t think it was absolutely necessary, as I saw quite a few people w/ only a sarong, but they weren’t about to let me get away w/out spending something…

Then, at the counter where they were supposed to check my ticket, the guy took my ticket and set it aside…I reached and took it back…then he pushed a book at me and wanted me to sign…when I asked what it was for, he said it was the names of people who had visited, where they were from, and how much they’d donated…I signed, but left the donation space blank…after all, I’d just paid a large entrance fee…the guy didn’t like that, and said I had to donate, because the entrance fee goes to the government…I don’t know who gets the entrance fee, but some of the numbers I saw in that book were pretty large…sorry, but I have no desire to “donate” 5x (or even 20x!!!) the entrance fee…the guy tried to say that I had to give, that I had to have a local guide with me because there was a ceremony in the temple, and I couldn’t go by myself…

I already knew that if there was a real ceremony, the temple would be completely closed to visitors, and I wouldn’t be able to walk around at all, so that line was a lie…and they are temples, so locals are going to be praying at various times as I’m walking through…in that sense, these temples are like a giant church, when someone is sitting in a pew with their head down…I went back and forth with the guy, knowing that I didn’t have to have a guide, and him trying to tell me that I did, all the while a woman was trying to rent me an umbrella…the guy said people wouldn’t let me in if I was by myself, and I told him that if that happened, I’d come back…but of course it didn’t…and I didn’t rent the umbrella…I REALLY don’t like it when people lie about religious things…it taints what I’m seeing, if that makes any sense…even though I managed to get away from them w/out “donating” I still had to say no to every man I walked by on the way to the entrance of the area…

Finally I got to the entrance of the area…the temples go up the side of the mountain, I wasn’t exactly sure where to go…so I followed my eyes…if it looked to be of interest, I walked in that direction…in the end, there was only one temple I wanted to see that I wasn’t allowed to see…the guy outside that temple said I could take a photo from outside, but not inside…okay…keep in mind that none of these temples have roofs…they’re all outdoors…so with the crappy weather, all the normal colours of decorations weren’t as fun…I wonder how often they replace all those decorations? The only negative to wandering around were the two girls at the very top temple, one of whom kept bugging me to switch sarongs with her…I must’ve said no 10 times…continuing to hassle me does NOT make me likely to buy what you’re selling, or to do what you want…I wandered around the temples for an hour or two, and I would’ve stayed longer if the weather had been better…

On the way back, more ladies on the road tried to get me to stop for another blessing…argh…does it ever end? I got back to my hotel, and again camped out on the front porch…a bit before dark I went for a walk, just to use my legs since all I’d done was sit during the day…(except for wandering around the temples, but that wasn’t much)…as I was walking back from that nearly every guy on a motorbike stopped to offer transport…or trekking the next day…one guy even offered a free massage…now that was totally creeptastic…yuck…even though I liked the place I stayed, and the views of the lake/mountain, that was all I liked about the area…the rest of it was too much hassle, and I wouldn’t recommend it…

north coast of bali

It took me less than an hour to drive from munduk to an area called lovina…I don’t know why it’s called lovina, it’s actually a series of four villages on the north coast of bali…I stayed in kaliasem…I’d looked in the guidebook to see what type of accommodation I could expect to find, and I went for the cheapest listed…for the first time I can ever recall, the price listed in the book was the same price I paid…amazing…I was expecting it to have gone up a dollar or two, but I’m definitely not complaining…the room is as nice as what I had in munduk, and I’m paying a whole lot less…less than half, actually…and it still includes breakfast…what it does not include though, is hot water, a towel, or toilet paper…fortunately, I have something I can use as a towel, and I have toilet paper…(never ever travel in asia w/out toilet paper)…I wasn’t expecting to get here so fast, but as I continually learn, distances in bali just aren’t that big…

Lovina is a beach area…the beach is black sand, and fairly narrow…it’s not stunningly beautiful, but I still like it…(you’ll be hardpressed to find a beach I don’t like)…kalibukbuk is the main village of the bunch, that’s where most of the accommodation and food is found…how you know which village you’re in is beyond me, I never did find blank space in between the villages…anywho…before heading to the beach I went for a walk around the area, to get my bearings and see what I could see…not much…the area is just like kuta, only far less crazy, and far less crowded…there are touts on the beach, though far fewer of them…(far fewer people in general, which I love)…spas, shops, restaurants, accommodation…not much else…and just like kuta, I was able to ignore everything except the beach…

The first day I relaxed in my room, then went to the beach…then checked internet, then went home, then went to dinner…nothing terribly exciting…the next day I got up and had breakfast on the porch in front of my room…tea and a sandwich with fried eggs and tomatoes…when breakfast is included in the price it’s always interesting to see what breakfast is…then I hopped on my bike, and drove through the nearby town of singaraja…it’s the biggest town on the north coast, but there isn’t any real reason for tourists to go there…out the eastern side of town are a couple temples, and another one even farther east…even though I was expecting more of the same temples I’ve already seen, they still fascinate me…I’m weird, I know…

The first temple was the best of the three…soooo much carving…most temples in bali have a lot of carving, especially on the main entrance…but this one had a lot more…including human faces, not just the scary faces I’m used to…the shape of the temple was different as well, though I’d be hard pressed to explain how…it just was…to get to the second temple, I walked along a narrow path next to the first, and over a bridge, onto the next road over…about 200m up the road I could see the second temple…what I couldn’t do was go in this temple…all the gates were closed…argh…but I could still see some carvings on the outside, as well as tell that this temple was quite small…an informative local searching for snails in the rice paddies (to feed his lobsters, if I understood correctly) told me that this temple had all the carvings depicting where you go when you’re dead…hmmm…the way he said it was pretty humourous, I guess you had to be there…

The third temple involved more driving…as I was on my way there, I realized I was running really low on petrol…really really low…and then I saw a petrol station…phew…I pulled in, only to realize that it wasn’t open…eeek…so I kept driving, hoping I’d see another one soon…but I got to the next temple before I saw another petrol station…I parked, put on my sarong, and gave a donation…the guy was rather put out that I didn’t give a certain amount…he said all the tourists give more than I did…I didn’t say anything, but in my head I was thinking “if you want a certain amount from everyone who visits, you should just charge an entrance fee and call it what it is”…anywho…this temple wasn’t all that interesting, but there was a particular carving worth nothing…it’s a guy on a bicycle, and the wheels of the bicycle are made of flowers…I laughed…that’s definitely not something I would’ve expected to see anywhere in a Balinese temple…awesome…

After that temple, I started driving back…past the petrol station that wasn’t open…I pulled into the next one, only to be told that they didn’t have petrol for motorbikes…AAAAAAAAAAAAGH!...by this point, the needle on my bike was below E, and I was seriously concerned…but I kept driving…eventually, I saw another petrol station, with plenty of motorbikes pulled in to fill up…phew…it wouldn’t have been that hard to get help if I needed it, but it would’ve been embarrassing…lol…

The afternoon was spent at the beach, of course…at dinner the meal I ordered came with chili peppers on the side, in case I wanted it spicy…and I did…I put them all on the food…they’re spicy all right, and I was sweating while I was eating, but I loved it anywho…spicy food is awesome…

My last day in lovina was spent mostly on the beach…at some point while I was baking, there was a local ceremony of some kind on the beach…putting offerings in the water, chanting, etc…everyone in traditional attire…neat to see…

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

tanah lot

I knew I could end up staying in kuta for the rest of my time in bali, and be perfectly content…checking email, looking for jobs, laying on the beach, watching movies in cafes, going for walks, etc…I’ve gotten better about ignoring the touts, even though they’re everywhere…howeva, having been to bali five times now, I wanted to see more of the island…so I decided to leave again…howeva, before leaving the kuta area, there was a temple I’d always wanted to see, called tanah lot…it’s on a lot of postcards, almost always in a sunset scene…it’s just off the west coast of bali, and the sunsets are beautiful…

Howeva, I’m not one for driving at night on a scooter…I’m also not one for seeing a sunset with a gbillion other people…and I figured the lighting would be good in the morning for photos anywho…so as soon as I woke up, I started getting ready to go, instead of laying around which is what I usually do…

According to the map and directions in lonely planet, it should’ve been easy to get to tanah lot…but for me, it wasn’t…when I finally got there, I realized I’d taken the long way around…basically going to far, then circling back around to the right place…whoops…at least my detour was prettyJ

The main part of the temple can only be reached at low tide…otherwise it’s cut off by the water…this main part of the temple is also the most photographed par, though I didn’t think it was the most photogenic part…the day I visited there were some higher waves, and I loved seeing the waves crash into the rocks all around…there were multiple altars, and multiple viewpoints, and I loved them all…not surprisingly, there were cafes designed to give you the best views at sunset, and a gbillion souvenir stalls…of all the places I’ve seen in bali, this temple has the most tourist stalls…it’s crazy…there are so many of them that after I parked I wasn’t sure in which direction I should walk…all I could see in any direction were souvenir stalls! howeva, as i was threading my way through everything back to my bike, i passed this procession of folks on their way to the temple:)

Driving back to kuta was a lot easier…I followed the signs heading back toward denpasar until I saw signs for kuta…phew…I stopped and got oreos and postcards at a supermarket close to where angie’s family lives…double stuffed oreos, of course…they’re my favourite…I also got a map, I’m fed up with lonely planet being terrible…later that afternoon, after more beach time I packed up my stuff and took my pack to the clark household…I planned to take off the next day on another bali adventure, and didn’t need to take everything I had…I could’ve, but I didn’t want to…

back to the beach(es)

Back in seminyak…I was pretty proud of making it back without any majour stories to tell…no wrecks, no majour getting lost, etc…no majour stories to tell either, but that didn’t matter much…I had a few good photos, and it was nice to be with the family again…I went to the beach that afternoon, and did it without getting lost…woo hoo!!  On the way home from the beach I shopped for bikinis…I have a good one, and I love it, but part of me wants another…do I need another? No…do I want one? Yes…since there is a lot of surfing all over Indonesia, all the majour surfing brands have shops here…and for some products, I’m a brand name junkie…since I didn’t have the cash on me, I didn’t buy anything…but I found a few I wanted…I have weight I want to lose, but I don’t consider myself huge…howeva, I’m usually wearing the largest, or 2^nd to largest size these stores have…what do most Americans wear?

The next morning I got up and went to a supermarket, getting full milk and mini croissants…I’d been dying to make chai again…it was yummy…so were the mini croissants, especially when they were dipped in “plain” (it said plain, but it was pretty sweet and tasted like vanilla to me) yoghurt…later that afternoon I went to the beach, and from there drove to jimbaran, on the bukit peninsula…I met angie at a mcdonald’s (it was a spot she knew I could find) and we drove to a fish market…lots of seafood available, to say the least…all different colours too…she picked out a couple snapper, telling me what she looks for when buying fresh fish…we also got some fruit that makes me think of snakeskins…the fruit inside tastes like a cross between a tart apple and a pear…YUM…I’d never had them, and after trying one, I suggested we get a kilo for dinner…woo hoo…

As soon as we got home, angie put anna and I to work…chopping up a bunch of stuff to add to the fish…she bbq’d the fish, and added to everything else, the meal was AMAZING…after dinner, all of us (willie, anna, me, angie, mom, dad) went to a movie…a family outing…we saw “driving angry” with Nicholas cage…definitely one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen…and it was LOUD…we couldn’t help but laugh at how bad it was…just awful…since it was so loud, after the movie was over, as we walked back to the van, we were all pretty quiet…shell shocked I think…just awful…

The next day I moved into kuta…it’s the crazy crazy crazy tourist centre of the island…nearly everyone who comes to bali spends a night or two in kuta at some point…there is a giant beach that goes for 8km or something like that, tons of accommodation in every price range, and shopping…not much else…I was lucky enough to get a room in the same place I stayed during both visits in 2009…it’s super cheap, but I don’t need much…(by comparison, the room I stayed in with the clark family was a palace)…since I’m on a motorbike this time, I’ve realized just how crazy traffic is around here, and just how many tourists are here…it’s nuts…fortunately, I’m able to ignore most of it…what always gets me is when I’m walking onto the beach, and someone offers transport…I’m walking onto the beach, does it look like I want to go anywhere else??????

Since moving into kuta I haven’t done much…beach time, reading time, online time mostly…a couple times I’ve met up with angie and anna, we’ve played badminton…it’s the national sport, which meant we got our butts kicked by the local kids…fun…and I was super sore after the first day…lol…I’ve also gone to play touch rugby, good times…rugby is the best sport, and the only one I know where a total stranger can rock up to practice, and be fully welcomed into whateva is happening…drills, scrimmage, etc…awesome…if I decide to stay on bali, it’s something I want to get into regularly, because I miss playing in seoul…

bali:bukit

I managed to drive from ubud to bukit w/out getting too lost…I missed one turn toward the end of the drive, simply because it wasn’t labeled the way I thought it would be…fortunately, that was easy to fix…I’d looked at the map of bukit several times, paying special attention to the road to get to bingin, which is where my mate james was staying…james and I were in the same primary school classes in 4^th and 5^th grade, and I hadn’t seen him since…and w/out facebook, I wouldn’t have known he was in bali, nor would I have recognized him while walking past him…he’s a surfer at heart, so it makes sense that he feels totally at home on the bukit peninsula…there are a lot of surf spots off the southern peninsula of bali, and it’s easy to get around…

I found a place to stay, and headed down to the beach…at least, I thought it was down to the beach…as has been my habit so far, I missed a turn, and ended up taking the adventurous way to the beach…bingin is a very small village, and basically only exists because of surfers…everything is related to surfers…accommodation and food, surf shops, etc…getting down to that particular beach involves going down steep steps that wind through various accommodation options…the beach itself is pretty small, and the water crashes really close by…

After laying out for a while I started climbing back up to mama ketut’s to check email/surf the net…that’s when I realized I hadn’t eaten since breakfast…I nearly passed out a couple times on the way up, I had to take mini breaks and guzzle water…whoops…I hadn’t felt it while laying out, but the sun had apparently taken a lot out of me…after checking internet and meeting up with james I ate a full meal, I knew I’d feel better…and I did…after showering I met up with james again and we chatted the rest of the evening…it’s fun to catch up with people from my past, especially in random places like the bukit peninsula of bali…needless to say, a lot has happened since we’d seen each other…to make a long story short, james is an engineer in California; he quit his job to take a 12-18 month trip around the world…

 The next morning, after a ridiculously slow wakeup, I drove to ulu watu…it’s a temple on the south side of the peninsula…there is also a surf spot and beach called ulu watu…the temple wasn’t as impressive as I expected, but it’s perched on top of some beautiful cliffs, and I enjoyed seeing those…a whole bunch of monkeys live in the temple grounds, they like to take things from the people wandering around…I didn’t have any plastic bags, or any food with me, but they still wanted to look in my purse…I was okay with that, but I wasn’t so thrilled when one of the monkeys jumped on me and moved up to my head…apparently the monkey liked the look of my hair rubber band…it’s orange…but most definitely not edible…he scratched me a bit as I shook him off…his buddy watched the whole thing happen, but he didn’t get the hair band either…on my way back out, I asked about the dance show that happens every night at the temple…the guidebook said the price was 40,000rupiah, but I had a feeling that number would be higher now…and it was…70,000rupiah…having seen a couple shows in ubud I didn’t think it would be worth it to go again…

From the temple I drove back toward bingin, stopping at padang padang beach…angie had recommended it…it’s small compared to some of the other beaches I’ve seen in bali, but it’s still nice…I think there is even a lifeguard on duty! Who knows if the lifeguard is any good, but that’s beside the point…it was crowded as beaches go, or maybe I just got spoiled when I spent time in new Zealand and anything more than 5 people on a beach makes it seem crowded to me…the water felt good, and it was fun to watch people…after laying out for an hour and a half I went back to my hotel and chilled for the rest of the evening, chatting with james a bit more…I realized I could stay on that peninsula for a week, not doing much of anything, just soaking up sun and chatting with people…the people who owned my accommodation spoke really good English, and were great fun to talk to…james had stayed their previously, and they loved him…and the mango juice was awesomeJ

The next day I drove back to seminyak, w/ only one small detour…now I know how to get to the airport, hee hee…fortunately, it was easy enough to get to seminyak, despite taking the “alternate” route…