Bali

We decided to spend Brandon’s post-deployment leave in Bali.

(In which there is a multitude of good lookin' doors.)

I don’t even know where to start – it was that good.  Actually we were so busy driving from one sight to the next that I know we both could have used a bit more time to work on our tan and appreciate some of the island’s nicer beaches.  We barely had enough downtime to appreciate the amazingly cheap spa prices.  That’s why we are already talking about our next trip there (a little delusional, perhaps, but it’s too amazing not to visit again!) 

Another good lookin' door.

Maybe I should start with our hotel.    We decided to stay in Seminyak, which proved to be a good base from which to venture out on daytrips.   We stayed at a small villa on the edge of town, just far enough from the main drag that we could wake up to strange birdsong and not the metallic whine of the country’s many motorbike commuters.   I fell in love with villa life the first time I was caught hanging out at the pool by one of the awesome staff members.  “Would you like some tea ma’am?”

Why yes.  Yes I would.  Forget cabana boys, it’s all about complimentary afternoon tea.  Especially if it’s lemongrass tea, which is pretty much the thing to drink over there.

But where was I? 

We didn’t spend as much time in Seminyak as I had imagined.  A quick look at Seminyak Square (classy shopping) and the nearby Oberoi Flea Market (people trying to sell you drugs and Bintang tanks) pretty much covers the daytime activities there.  At sunset we headed over to Double Six beach to enjoy the view and the beach bars that set out cute umbrellas and bean bags facing the beach.  Some even have live music and glow-in-the dark furniture.  One night we went over to Potatohead, a classy beach club with decent security and one heck of a cocktail menu.  It was probably one of the nicest places in Bali, but still pretty chill.  Which leads me to another point: unless you are staying at a resort or something, best not pack your good shoes.  After Potatohead we headed down to Kuta, where the party is at, apparently.  A party of crazy, dance-y Australians.  One visit to Kuta totally sufficed. 

Most of our time spent ranging out to different parts of the island seeing the sights with a driver on daytrips.   This is really the most convenient and affordable way to get around and to basically have a travel guide.  Because driving in Balinese traffic would have likely led to my death or a psychotic break. 

We watched artisans producing traditional Batik, watched silversmiths at work turning out an abundance of jewelry, and even visited some woodcarvers.  The Batik was most worth the stop – the goods you can find at a real gallery feature painstaking hand-painted detail and a quality that is not comparable to the knock- off wares we were bombarded with at the little flea markets all over Bali. 

We also stopped in Ubud, but I found the market touristy and uninteresting and really the Monkey Forest there was the main justification for the trek out there.  The monkey sanctuary was pretty awesome, actually.    There were tons of them!  They were so ornery, I found myself thanking God they weren’t intelligent enough to organize as a large group.  Or plot.  They can get pretty scary when they’re mad, and very grabby.  One started a tug of war with a lady and her handbag, and they definitely seem to have some kind of intense hatred for sunglasses. 

There were more monkeys in Uluwatu, which features a temple on a very high cliff overlooking the ocean.  There we stopped to watch the Ramayana and Kecak (ke-chack) Fire Dance.  Although the location offered an excellent backdrop for this dance, when the weather decided to roll in it got a little intense.  Lots of people fled because of the crazy winds, but it was totally worth staying for and it was the most entertaining thing we saw there.  Plus, whenever I need to bug the husband, I can now chant “CAK CAK CAK!!!!”  at him. 

Uluwatu was a little west of our location, as was Jimbaran, which is apparently where the backpackers like to frequent, and also those seeking the prettier beaches.  I definitely want to check this area out more in the future.  We stopped in another more rural area to take in the sweeping landscape of rice terraces that lies a little bit more towards the center of the island.  When we visited, the highway was particularly lively; students who had just finished final exams were celebrating by tearing up and down the roads in huge packs of motorbikes, flying pirate flags and donning their uniforms which they had brightened up a bit with spray paint.  Now THAT’S the way to celebrate finals week. 

We also visited the Bali Zoo, because Brandon ABSOLUTEY HAD TO ride an elephant.  Also there was a baby lion that we got to pet, so that was pretty awesome.   The U.S. has too many rules.

 

Along the roadsides we kept seeing billboards with a strange looking little animal.  When I inquired, I was told it was a luwat.  The luwat is special because it “makes coffee.”  You can probably guess the process on your own.  This coffee sells for like $7.00 a cup over there.  So we went to a luwat coffee plantation to check it out.  We were given a tour of the plantation, which really struck me as more of a garden than a plantation, because they grew several herbs and spices too.  They explained the whole luwat thing, and gave us a tea and coffee sampler.  They do tea a little differently over there, pounding it into a fine powder to mix into a drink rather than steeping it.  There is something very cool about sipping  fresh tea and coffee surrounded by the same plants that produced it, chatting with the people roasting it over a simple fire and grinding it by hand in a giant stone mortar, and even meeting the luwat who….um… produced it.  There was a bat about the length of my arm in a cage next to the luwats, and I had to ask what it was exactly the bat had to do with things, which got a laugh, but thankfully he was just being kept as a pet.  

Of course we visited our share of temples, including Tirta Empul, which is a natural spring considered holy by the locals.  I am OBSESSED with the orange/poppy color used so abundantly in the architecture over there.  There is so much detail put into all the stone and wood carvings.  And in the temples, same as everywhere, there are multitudes of offerings- little leaves folded into small squares that hold flowers, incense, and perhaps a snack.  They are all over the sidewalks, in front of houses, businesses – in random corners where you would never expect to find a little offering of flowers.  They leave these offerings three times a day!

Of course our most special visit to a temple was on Friday, which marked the full moon on the calendar, which meant it was time for a Hindu ceremony.  I asked our driver very nicely if we might be allowed to observe a ceremony, and he was kind enough to oblige us.  So that morning, he took us to his family home out in the countryside, where we met multiple generations of his family.  He and his wife let us borrow an extra set of the traditional clothes that must be worn inside the temple.  The grandmother, who was ancient, came into the courtyard with a massive bundle of banana leaves and set about trimming them with a hand-scythe, for use in the feast later that evening.  We learned a lot about Balinese life that day, and while I won’t go into all the details it was fascinating and for me the most interesting part of the trip.  Festivities can last all day, which we did not have the energy for, but we did stay to watch their priests give out the blessing.  Even though we were decked out in traditional clothes, there was no chance we were blending in, especially with a massive camera hanging around my neck.  I had assumed that due to the ‘cultural tourism’ phenomenon inspired by Eat, Pray, Love that we wouldn’t have been such a strange sight to the people of that village.  But as touristy as Bali is getting, it was clear that we had found one space that was still very authentic and traditional, and would remain so.  Brandon asked if tourists often came out to view these ceremonies, which had to be clarified a little – ‘people like us?’ --  No, no people like us in this particular village. 

While I was not inspired to go on a yoga retreat, seek spiritual advice from one of their wise men, or convert to Hinduism, I did find myself admiring the importance which the Balinese gave to their religion.  I’m sure tradition and habit are a big part of that, but I did find myself thinking that I could be doing a lot more to be expressing gratitude to my God for giving me one more day to live.  In a country where the poverty is so real, you do see a few beggars, but more than that you see how much they are willing to offer up as thanks, and how central their faith is to their life and their communities.  Most Balinese spend about one third of their income on ceremonies, and while I could find more practical uses for income (education, healthcare, roads etc.) there are still aspects of that which I can appreciate, coming from a Christian perspective where investing a lot of time in money into religious observance has become somewhat outdated.  

Anyways, the trip was legit. And it's really nice to have my husband back.  :)