Indonesia

WELCOME TO THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE!
So, our proclaimed "Southern Hemisphere" Trip didn't technically start until Bali. And what a woooooonderful introduction to the southern hemisphere it has been for us! Per the recommendation of a close relative, we decided to take this part of the trip by land and part by sea. For the land part, we ventured inland to the fabulous and culturally preserved Ubud, and for sea, the quiet fishing village of Amed:

Ubud: A destination for all travelers:
We stumbled into Ubud after a flight and an hour cab drive to stay at a great little place called Dewa Bungalows. Right in the center of town and on the street parallel to the busy shopping strip called Monkey Forest Street. Our destination was ripe for exploring the local retail and handicraft businesses. Ubud is renowned for its wood carvers, painters and weavers. Early on, we had the lucky opportunity to meet Dharma, a kind and informative guide who ended up taking us everywhere we wanted to venture at a fair price (who also happened to be an accomplished wood carver - he carved a complete 6 piece dining set out of teak that was designed and is owned by Bill and Hillary Clinton). It was difficult to not want to buy all of his works, what with the precision, character and detail that he gave to each piece! We were sincerely impressed. Dharma took us on a day trip to the local volcano, multiple temples, shrines and palaces in the center territory and provided an in-depth perspective to the livelihood of the Balinese people.
Our visit landed squarely in the high season for religious ceremonies. This meant that almost every day different villages were making elaborate offerings and holding processions in honor of different gods that would provide things such as safety for the village, or good rice crops, etc. The women spend days preparing foods and delicately woven baskets. The men...hold cock fights and bet. We got to see both as we travelled through the countryside.
Arriving here after India, it was difficult not to presume that all of the local people were trying to sell us something when they approached us. On the contrary, Indonesians are a very curious, talkative and friendly people. Every child in Bali knows how to say "Hello" and if given the opporunity, will say so repeatedly with an enormous grin on their face if responded to with a "Heeeeeeellllll-ooooo" in return. Hello. Hello, Hello. We love Indonesia. Ubud has a comfortable combination of Eastern influence and Western convenience. Somehow, this area has found a way to promote tourism and maintain its key cultural points. While here, we went to different ceremonies and performances at night that demonstrated the beliefs and practices of traditional Bali. Kechak and Barong are among our favorites. In them, the men chant, religious icons dance, ornately dressed women move to the chants, and unique wind and drum instruments are played. They are enchanting! The food here is great, especially bebek (roasted duck) which is a specialty in Ubud as well as many seafood dishes. We had a nice culinary experience in this city. Despite its humidity (which is easily remedied by chosing a hotel for $10 USD/night with a pool), Ubud is a wonderful place that we both hope to come back to again some day. We envisioned many people we know also liking it here!

Amed: Not quite just a fishing village:
After Ubud, we were both looking forward to the coastal winds, open Indian ocean, and quiet serenity of the small fishing village we've come to know as Amed. In some ways, it is exactly what we expected, and in others, not at all. The initial draw was the chance to do a wreck scuba dive at the USS Liberty, which was a cargo-turned-war ship during World War II that was torpedoed by the Japanese in shallow waters (32 meters maximum depth - just over 100 feet) and has since become an incredible artificial reef. After some discussion, we decided to take the leap and schedule 4 dives to complete our advanced open water diving certificate. Which we did by completing the Liberty Wreck dive, navigation dive, multi-level dive (which Alyssa experienced her first freightening case of nitrogen narcosis at 35 meters), and a naturalist dive. It was well worth the experience and we saw many new fish species we had never seen before. Most thrilling was saving the lives of two young blue-spotted sting rays on our navigation dive that had been caught by fishing line that was left at the ocean bottom. We felt proud of doing our part to help those little guys...
One aspect we did not quite expect was how rough the local beaches were - most were black volcanic rock beaches. This was good because it created an environment for coral reefs to be very close to the shore. We did some incredible snorkeling while in Amed, including a morning of snorkeling at another wreck site - that of a small Japanese ship that was sunk in World War II (revenge for the Liberty?). The downfall was that we felt it difficult to lounge and relax anywhere but our hotel room, which was without AC and terribly hot all hours of the day. Our escape was the rumor of a white sand beach some 50 kilometers or so down the south coast near the town of Perasi, affectionately referred to as "Bug Bug". So, we rented a motorbike for $5 USD/day and hunted our way to the beach. Despite getting lost a couple of times, we finally arrived and found it to be a great haven from the rocky beaches. While there that afternoon, we ate a freshly caught blue snapper and drank a local Bintang beer and relaxed. It was well worth the long windy drive up and down countless hills to get there! Our last morning in Amed, we got up at 4:30 and went fishing with a local out of his dugout outrigger fishing boat. It was hand lines and no frills. We caught a bunch of Mackarel and tried for Barracuda with one of them as bait. No big fish, but the Mackarel are great grilled up with some Balinese spices, as we had them prepared at our hotel that night!

All in all, we loved Bali. AND, we encourage anyone that wants a lush tropical vacation that has everything to offer (good beaches, nice resorts, backpackers delight, great food, etc) to visit this beautiful island. We heard repeatedly that business has slowed significantly and barely any Americans are visiting anymore. Go to Bali, fall in love with it, and then go back again. Scott did some research and you can buy a condo on the water for less than $50K. Any takers?? Okay, we know it's a long flight...but it's really more remote and scintillating than Maui...

We miss you all and wish you were here to share this experience with us!

-Alyssa and Scott

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