Beauty in Bali

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Relaxing in Luxury

After our first few nights in Bali, we wanted to start making our way into the country a bit more. We cashed in some Starwood points to stay at the Le Meridien. The hotel is on the water, set up on a cliff overlooking the crashing waves and a famous Hindu temple, Purah Tanah Lot. Once again we were rewarded with a two room suite with a balcony overlooking the resort and the water. The hotel itself was beautiful with relaxing and lush pools. There was no beach, however, because below the cliff were rock formations - no sand. I started to wonder if we would find a beach like we imagined - sand and small waves where we could actually enjoy the water. At this point, we were left with merely enjoying the sights and sounds of the water, and in fact, that was more than sufficient. We were just starting to relax - truly relax. We had no set schedule and we were loving it. We thought we would stay at the hotel for a few days after checking out the food situation. Like at the Marriott in Phuket, the food on the resort was overpriced and subject to an enormous and unnecessary service charge and tax. Luckily, due to the proximity of Purah Tanah Lot, one of the most famous tourist spots on the island, there were some food stalls and local restaurants, even if their bread and butter is from tourist buses stopping on the way to the temple. We just needed to walk off the resort, through a rice terrace infused golf course, and out onto the main road, which did not really have sidewalks. After checking in, we hit one of the local restaurants for some late lunch. It was not the best food we had to date, but was cheap and decent and a few minute walk from the resort. We immediately started to consider extending our stay. The resort was only 3000 points a night. With our calculations, we could stay for a month and still have plenty of points left over.

On our return to the hotel, we stopped to chat with the security guards at the gate. All large hotels in Bali have security guards since the recent bombings in 2002 and 2005. The guard was surprised that we ventured off the grounds specifically to eat. We asked about Balinese pig - where a large oinker is placed on a spit and rotated for a few hours while being basted in a yummy, sweet coconut milk until his skin is glowing and orange. We were salivating watching it on TV and it was one of the main reasons we wanted to come to Bali. The guard said that he had a restaurant nearby that he wanted us to go to. He agreed to pick us up around 7:30 the following evening, and he would provide the transport. We took him up on the offer. This could be either a big mistake or a great experience.

Commercialism and Sacred Holy Site - a Perfect Combination

During our second day we broke up our stay by the pool with a trip out to see the temple. Our initial thought process was we would go out there for lunch and possibly to see the temple. It was tourism overload. Purah Tanah Lot is one of the holiest Hindu sites on the island and is a pilgrimage for many Balinese. The temple is propped up on an island cliff. It is one of several “water temples” in a chain along the south east side of the island.

I don’t think I can describe what we saw. We started by hitting some food stalls in the parking lot, which was loaded from one end to the other with huge tour buses. The food was good - the usual Nasi Campur - rice with meats and veggies, and cost about $1. I think the stalls were meant for the Balinese and the bus drivers, not the western tourists. So, for us it was perfect. After that we went back to the mayhem.

When we arrived at the entrance there was one main road heading straight towards the water and the temple. There was a ticket counter on the left for foreigners in one line and Balinese in the other. Of course, our line had a fee. Behind the ticket counter was another road that curved to the right, again back to the water. It was labeled as an art center, and there were plenty of stalls selling sarongs, wood carvings, and large paintings that would never fit in the overhead bin on the plane ride home. The two roads towards the temple converged and where they did, western commercialism totally took over. Here was a dirt and gravel path heading towards a Hindu holy site filled with a Crocs store, a Billabong outlet, and a Polo Ralph Lauren outlet, plus more touristy shops. Wow. It really put a bad taste in our mouths. They were permanent structures with lighting and air conditioning, like you would find in a shopping mall. Yuck.

When we continued down towards the temple there were visitors as far as the eye could see. We tried to approach the temple, which had a stair case to the right, and another to the left. The one on the right said no entry, so we made our way to the left. A gentleman was manning a large gate in front of the left stairs and as we approached he pointed to a line labeled sacred water. We waited in a short line behind worshippers, who showed us how to wash our face and hands with the holy water, and then a priest or priest helper, for lack of a better word, placed a flower behind our ear and dotted our forehead with water, applying several kernels of rice. This was our holy water blessing.

Now, we usually try not to interrupt traditional ways of worship. We are always respectful in any temple or church we enter. We abide by rules regarding photography and never take pictures of worshippers. Here, I probably would not have assumed we could partake in this ritual, but because we were directed to do so, we did. Did I mention we were asked for a donation to do the ritual? Well, with rice on our foreheads and a flower behind the ear, we approached the gate and opened it to walk up the stairs. To our dismay the stairs pretty much led nowhere. When we went down and tried to approach on the ride side we were told the temple was closed for a special ceremony. We found out later that the temple is closed to westerners, which is fine by us, we understand. If someone said “Hindus only” we would have totally respected that, but it was the “special ceremony” reasoning that bothered me.

So, this is one of the top tourist destinations on the island and you can’t approach the top, and frankly, can’t really get a good view to take a decent photo. As we made our way back towards the entrance, a small group of Indonesians stopped us and waved their camera at us. I assumed they wanted us to take a group picture of them. Turns out, they wanted to take a picture with us. As we started to stand with them, Eric asked them why they want a picture with us; “Is it because we are white?” I think the answer to that was yes. Then, the young guy asked us to say something in Bhasa Indonesian into his video camera. We asked him what it meant, and he would not translate. Even if he did, we did not feel comfortable doing it. We could foresee ourselves in a video on You Tube saying “We are stupid Americans” in Indonesian. We passed. We wandered the rest of the grounds and saw some smaller shrines, but called it a day. We were a little disappointed. We felt lucky that we did not book a special tour to come see the temple - at least it was only a short walk from the hotel.

The Guard Dinner

Around 7:30 that night we were in our room waiting for the guard to come and get us. A little past our agreed time, he had not shown up. So, we decided to walk the hotel grounds and find something else to eat. No big deal. As we crossed the lobby we thought we would try to purchase internet access and as we made our way to the business center to buy the certificate to use in our room, we ran into the guard in the front of the hotel. His son arrived in a late model BMW to drive us over to the restaurant. It was not far, just outside of the resort, on the road to the temple. It was an off night for them. What I mean is that the pig is only prepared 2-3 times a week, those are the best days to go to these restaurants. On the other days, we get the rest of the big, and it is a much smaller group. We were the only customers in the place. This night we had some dried pork, some fried pork bits, and some pork soup. It was perfectly good. The son informed us that they would be roasting a fresh pig in the morning, and asked if we wanted to come for lunch. He even offered to pick us up. We declined saying the restaurant was close enough to walk. As we had the conversation we could hear the squeal of the pig around the side of the house. We knew what his fate was. And, we are certainly no vegetarians. We said sorry to our little friend, but it was his time to go. See you tomorrow. The son drove us back to the hotel and we started to salivate at our plans.

A Change in Direction; a Change in Attitude

That evening, we finally had decent internet access for the first time in two days. We received an email from Eric’s sister that we needed to call home immediately. Eric’s father had gone in for surgery about a week prior. He was estimated to have about four days recovery before his discharge. We knew it was taking him a bit longer to recover, but that he was estimated to leave the hospital soon. When we called home that night we were told things were not going as planned. He had some complications from the surgery and Eric’s brother informed us it was time to come home. We immediately booked a flight home. We left the following morning on a flight to Singapore, and then took the 6:40 am flight the day after from Singapore to Tokyo to Dulles. We spent a night in DC and rented a car to drive to NJ. We were able to spend some time with Dad, but he passed away on June 30. He was 78 years old.

We spent a total of one month in the US, with a brief trip to DC. We were not sure when we arrived in the US what our plans were. It was day to day. We used miles to fly home, and we needed to book a return ticket, but we were unsure what to do. While we were in Singapore, Eric’s mom did not want us to fly home because they were unsure the situation with Dad. She said Dad was so proud of Eric and his traveling and would be disappointed that we ended the trip for him. When Mom said her goodbyes to Dad at the hospital she promised him that we would continue our trip. So, we did.

We have always known that life is short, and there are no guarantees on life. That is why we took our year off now, and not when we retire. Dad was a traveler. He spent every year since his retirement in 1997 out in the RV driving. Driving was his therapy. In the last twelve years, they have taken almost ten trips to Alaska, all the way from New Jersey! His only regret was not having started his travels earlier. Mom and Dad have been to almost all 50 states, including, obviously Alaska, and a 50th wedding anniversary trip to Hawaii (their first honeymoon, since they were not able to take a proper honeymoon in 1955), and throughout Canada. The international travel gene comes from Uncle Ned, and has hit Eric, his cousin Ed, and now his niece Laura who just took a trip to China during her first year in college. We will continue to travel, during this trip and after, and continue our belief in no fear - experiencing everything life has to offer - because life is short.

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Photos

Our Resort
The view from the temple

The Mayhem
The Polo store

Temple Grounds
One of the other temples nearby Purah Tanah Lot

Rice Terraces
On the golf course.

Sunset
view from the hotel. Simply Beautiful