Day 10

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Day 10
The drive
Today was check out day at The Grand Bali in Nusa Dua.
Peter negotiated and found a driver for $40 a day. Every night while in Nusa we had talked to a shop owner named Matt (that is what he had us call him) and he said he had a friend that needs a job. Before you knew it we were talking his friend via Matts phone.
The driver (named Mogley, like the character in Jungle Book) picked us up at 11:00 and off we went. We had a route planned out in our heads but we were flexible if he thought there was something else of interest he would let us know.
Our first stop is in Celuk. On the way to Celuk we passed through the town of Sanur, and sadly we didn’t stop. Sanur looked like a hip lively areas with cool eaterys and trendy shops. That will be on the next trip for sure. I had been waiting for this stop in Celuk ever sense I heard about the village’s fine craftsmanship in Filigree silver. We stopped, we looked, we bought. There was so much to look at, it was such an arduous process but like the true shopper I am I forged ahead.
Next stop was Mengwi Temple. It was quite a sight! It was established in 1740 and was restored in 1937.It is distinct for its moats that surround the temple. The moat represents the continuous circulation of water from the mountains through the rice fields to the ocean then back to the mountains.
I don’t quite understand all of the Balinese thinking but whatever it is they are doing and the way they are living it’s clear to me its working. Everything the Balinese do is intentional and with a purpose. Every symbol has a meaning and every meaning has a story tied to it. The detail in their temples reveals a culture that is true to its beliefs and strong in tradition.
Megwi is also known for its ancestrial shrines for the former ruling Megwi family. Did I mention Bali has shrines galore. There are so many in Bali if I took a picture of each one we would be stopping every ½ block and we’d never get any where.Sounds far fetched but true.
On to Tenhan Lot. This was a must see! This landmark is written about extensively and is a heavily promoted tourist destination. I knew this and still I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. First off after paying to park we headed in the direction the signs pointed us to. The signs funnel you down several narrow streets with goods and souvenirs on both sides, It just seemed like mass chaos to me. It had all the makings of a swap meet. There were hoards of tourists, hawkers, shops and trash and just too much clouding up such a stunning area. I know the locals rely on this destination for income but they are relentless in trying to pry every last dollar from your pocket and it gets draining.
The temple sits on a small island and offers an incredible sight at sunset. We waited for the sun to dip and it was worth it. There seemed to be a lot of professional photographers there (just judging by the equipment) and we could see why. It’s like no other place we’ve seen.
I wanted to quickly add a comment about an experience we had on this day. We need to exchange money and had a difficult time doing so. This was the first time so I’m not sure if it was the area or just a coincidence. The money exchangers looked at our $ 100 USD and wouldn’t take them. She would look at them and without explanation would ask if we had others. She would examine them carefully and reject almost all the bills we had. When we asked why she told us they were too old. She asked where we got them and we told her at our bank and she looked surprised. She wanted nothing older than 2006. She said their bank doesn’t like them and gets less money for them! Also if you ever plan to go to Bali don’t bring $20 to exchange. Your exchange rate is much lower and you get less $ for them. So…. The moral of this story is bring new fresh $100 bills to exchange in this country. Oh also to exchange travelers checks you do even worse, so don’t do that either!
After we saw Tenhan Lot the driver started us towards Negara. This is when we knew we made the right decision to hire a driver. It was getting dark quick and the roads were getting narrower and windy. Coupled by the fact the drivers in this country are insane (ours as well) and the area is dark and rural we were in for a nail biter. I kept my seat belt on and my eyes closed. I couldn’t understand why the roads are so busy this time of night. Where are these people going and where did they come from? Tour busses, motor bikes, scooters, dogs, (you get the picture) all sharing the asphalt. Every ones trying to pass everybody in the most aggressive manner. Almost seemed like a competition.
We are going to Negara to hopefully catch the buffalo races. This is something we read in the book and it looks exciting. The book said it occurs every other Sunday Sept through Nov. We have a 50/50 chance of catching this. We decided to try it last minute sense I talked Peter out of going to Java. That’s a whole other story.
Well I kinda had an idea Negara was going to be off the beaten path when I couldn’t pull up any hotels in the area on Trip Advisor. That should have been my first clue what we were in for.
When we got closer to Negara our driver stopped and got information about the races. They were in fact going on the next day and we were happy to hear this. What luck! At least this long horrible drive isn’t all for nothing.
We pulled into Negara and now I know why there was nothing listed in Trip Advisor. Negara is nothing. Now, I know it was dark and all but there was no reason I could see why anyone would want to be there! We saw one rinky dink hotel and took a look at the room and almost died! Yuck! The guy at the hotel was so nice he gave us directions to another hotel about 10 miles away. We found the Jimbarwana Hotel for $45 a night. It was terrible. We were stuck. We were tired, Mogley was tired and there was nothing we could do. Just got to suck it up. We went to bed exhausted and had to be up early, the races start at 8:00 am.

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