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Published: April 16th 2008
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After a day in Singapore to do laundry and relax, we left for our next side trip with Jessica and her husband Bransby to the beautiful Island of Bali. We had a late flight and arrived in Denpasar quite late. We were met by our driver, gathered our luggage and headed for our hotel upcountry toward Ubud. After about a
40 minute drive, we arrived at our destination, the resort hotel Komaneka at Tanggayuda. We signed in and were led through the garden to our villas. With the darkness, we could not see much but upon entering our room we were very impressed. What we saw is what you would expect to see in a romantic movie showing a honeymoon suite. Mosquito netting hanging over a bed with a red and white heart made
of flower petals in the center and individual dressing gowns waiting to be used. We woke up in the morning and thought we were in Paradise. We had our own private soaking pool with an adjoining cabana. Our villa was enclosed on three sides with an 9 foot wall with the open side looking out over a
beautiful jungle canyon. After a breakfast at the open air
restaurant we met our driver and started the day.
Our first stop was at the Tirta Empul Holy Springs Located in Tampak Siring. Being a Holy place, we were
fitted with a sarong to cover our knees and entered. This temple is regarded as one of six most important temples in Bali. The name "Tirta Empul" signifies a crystal clear stream which is used as the holy water for various religious ceremony. The stream originates at a spring within the complex that bubbles up through the ground.
Our next stop is at the Goa Gajah Elephant Cave. Driving to Goa Gajah, we drove through an area of rice fields. Our driver told us that the hillside rice paddy's were all made by hand using water buffalo. When the rice is ready for harvest, most of the work is done by the women of the village. We made one stop at a particularly pretty vista point for pictures. Goa Gajah (the Elephant Cave), is located in a steep valley just outside of Ubud near the town of Bedulu. An ancient temple built at least 700 years ago, the cave was rediscovered in
the 1920s and fully excavated 30 years later. It is still in the process of being restored. The famous cave entrance is elaborately carved. Inside the cave is a statue of the Hindu character Ganesh (Ganesa) - half elephant, half boy - from which the temple gets its name. Out of respect for the temple, visitors are requested to wear sarongs to cover their knees.
We stopped in Ubud for lunch at the Three Monkeys and spent some time shopping and then returned to Komaneka. For the evening we planned to attend the Legong & Barong Cultural Show and Dance demonstration after dinner at Lamak. The performance was in Balinese and as a result a little hard to follow. We did have a program that was of some help but it was dark and as a result hard to read. The show was full of costumed dancers and mythical Balinese characters. One person that we really enjoyed was a roving vendor that had a good supply of COLD Beer.
The next day we started with a tour of Bangli Village and the Bangli Temple. The Village is an actual Balinese village, not something
created for tourists. One home hosted a wedding the day before and the decorations were still on display. While we were walking to the Temple a little girl came up and presented Marci with a red flower. Later we were able to observe some children catching dragon flies with homemade catchers. Portions of the Temple were being restored and we were able to watch the workmen make perfectly smooth bricks by hand out of lava rock. Very time consuming and precise.
It was now time to stop for lunch. We enjoyed a Babi Guling Pork lunch at Ibu Oka. It was very crowded but by being patient, we were able to acquire two stools for Marci and I to sit at a table. We found a large table that we could sit at with the stools so Jess, Bransby and Mr. Ngakan Arwana our driver climbed up and sat on the table cross legged to eat. Babi Guling Pork is a national dish in Bali and we enjoyed it with rice. We went back to Ubud to tour the Neka Museum of Art and then returned to the resort for a relaxing massage. Back to Ubud for
drinks at Ary's Warung and then a nice dinner at Terazo.
The next morning Bransby arranged to go surfing with a co-worker. Because it was Palm Sunday Marci wanted to go to church. We found a catholic church in Gianyar and it was decided that our driver would drop Marci and I at church then take Bransby to Denpasar to meet his friend and return to Gianyar to pick us up and return to Komaneka. When we returned, Jessica was waiting and we joined her for a nice brunch. We left the resort for Ubud and made a quick walk through the Monkey Forest. Both Jess and Marci were a little nervous with the resident monkeys so we did not spend a lot of time there. We went back to the shopping area in town for, you guessed it, shopping. We were warm and with my encouragement, we stopped at the Cinta Grill for drinks. We were going to pick Bransby up in the late afternoon at the Hyatt in Denpasar so we returned to our resort, packed up and said goodbye to Ubud.
After picking up Bransby and his friend Don, we drove
out to the Pura Luhur Uluwatu Temple on the coast. Pura Luhur Uluwatu is one of Bali's directional temples and guards Bali from evil spirits from the southwest, in which dwell major deities, in Uluwatu's case; Bhatara Rudra, God of the elements and of cosmic force majeures. Bali's most spectacular temples located high on a cliff top at the edge of a plateau 250 feet above the waves of the Indian Ocean. Uluwatu lies at the southern tip of Bali in Badung Regency. We had reservations at a restaurant called CJ's for a sunset dinner on the beach so we loaded back up and headed for Jimbaron.
At CJ's they led us outside to our table and we found out when they said on the beach, they meant on the sand at the beach. We were about 50 feet from the edge of the water with a table and our chairs facing west so we could watch the setting sun. We enjoyed a great meal and as the sun dipped into the ocean we toasted each other and decided that we would really like to do this again sometime.
And so, back to Singapore!!!
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