Bali, Indonesia January 4th to 9th. Part 1
If you would like to read a long winded story of getting my phone to work in Bali press the button below.
From residence to residence, it took roughly 15 hours of travel to get from Chiang Mai to Bali. The timing was such that we arrived pretty hungry in Kuala Lumpur for a 4-hour layover and then could only find a Burger King in the international transfer area. So, when in Rome….
At the airport on the Island of Bali I went to a cash machine and received 500,000 rupiah. I’m RICH!!
As it turns out, 15,000 rupiah is about 1 US dollar. So, I’m not rich after all. Then a cold beer sitting in our room’s ‘mini bar’ at 38,000 was not as expensive as I thought. New country, new rules.
I’ve ordered lunch and am enjoying some iced black tea with fresh mint. As the warm tropical breeze gently blows, I close my eyes and imagine that this…. is how cats feel while lounging on a spot on the floor warmed by the sun.
In my mind I know that behind me, not far, is a road leading to the town. But my eyes only see jungle in front of me. We are on a terraced deck overlooking this jungle greenery overload.
Palm trees tower over me as the distant rumble of thunderstorms keep the threat alive of imminent rain. Nothing would make me happier.
I could easily imagine Ginger and MaryAnn walking up the path or one could only hope. My luck it would be the infamous Dr. Livingstone… I presume.
Tegalalang Rice Terrace Trek Day
Today was trek day. We were picked up at 9am and dropped off at 4pm. We are officially very tired. First thing after returning to our villa, I called room service to pick up laundry. Yes, we were covered in rice paddy mud and sweat. I then took my first dip in our private pool. Yes, I keep on typing ‘private’, but it’s not like I’ll get to type that many more times in my life. I soaked and floated for 20 minutes, took a shower, then put on my black satin dragon robe. Now it’s time to begin the process of writing what you are now reading and organizing the photos. I look across the couch and see a New York Times crossword puzzle on Diane’s computer screen and she is sound asleep. Today was strenuous. Life is wonderful.
The first thing on the agenda was to ‘trek’ across a rice terrace. How hard can that be? Our guide and driver shuffled us off to a local guide who would then take us off to the jungle. He had 5-foot walking sticks 3 inches in diameter for us to use. We were taking pictures of this deep valley of rice paddies and it dawned on me. “We, my friend, are gonna do some walking.” Descending down was steep and a tad treacherous but certainly do-able especially with the walking sticks. Notice the lack of pics of going down. I certainly had my hands full just navigating. Later on, as we crossed a precarious bridge of bamboo over a swift running stream, I stopped at the far end, turned around, hit my stick on the ground and said to no one, “You cannot pass”. It was a reference that not everyone will understand. Diane and our guide were not looking.
My I-phone later said 10,000 steps and 9 floors.…
Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary
After the rice paddy trek we were driven to The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary. It was beautiful, interesting, and yes…. chock-full of monkeys. I overheard the population was about 800 at one point.
You just walk around and enjoy some monkey time.
On cue as we were waiting for our guide to buy our tickets, a woman sitting near us had a pack of snacks in her purse. And sure enough, one of the rascals pickpocketed her and ran off. A few screams, mostly laughter and the monkey adventure begins before we even enter.
We took an hour or so to walk thru. We just chatted with each other and walked among the monkeys. My phone did not have much power left on it. I do regret not taking more pictures, but I grooved while I was there and enjoyed my time.
The monkeys seemed happy. They had developed their own societies. And yes, every cliche you’ve ever heard about monkeys happened in some form or another while walking around.
Things in between
When driving from the rice terrace adventure to our next adventure we were stopped by a religious procession. Traffic was suddenly fierce, cars and motorcycles trying to get through the group, general mayhem occured. The distances between vehicles could be measured with a micrometer.
In front of us was a hundred or so people slowly walking. The men were dressed all in white and the women in yellow with colorful skirts. Half the group seemed to have percussive musical instruments. The drums were loud, and the sturdy cymbal-like chimes clanged a rhythmic tempo on a two note scale.
This is the kinda stuff you can’t pre-arrange. Another spice in our already full bowl of experiences
A few other fun things were done during our day. After the rice terrace we stopped at a traditional Balinese house and took the opportunity to take a picture of us as drowned rats. We also made it to a couple of temples where we had to change into more respectful garb.
