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Published: December 6th 2007
Bali Belly Lauren and Jane have been have a slight taste of Bali Belly. Nothing too serious at this stage - not sure what could have caused it. My strategy of sticking to cooked-only food and heaps of alcohol seem to be paying dividends so far.
4WD Safari Waka Land Cruise safaris took us up into the hills today. It was our first real encounter with all the traffic conditions and types of people that Bali had to offer. We were picked up in a Land Rover fully kitted out for a serious expedition - there was no mistaking that our ride had arrived, that’s for sure.
We met up with a British couple from a hotel in Nusa Dua. They were closer to the UN Conference action than we were - they said it was terrible about all the inconvenience and traffic chaos and security precautions being taken at the moment. Traffic was light heading out from our hotel and we cleared Kuta fairly easily and headed for the hills.
Quarry Our first stop was a quarry at a local village. The quarry is worked by a few local men who cut volcanic sandstone
Night Movies by the Beach
Off to watch Music & Lyricsout using traditional methods and the women carry the stone up on their heads - 15 to 20kgs of the stuff at a time! They don’t move fast, but they do it constantly all day long. The work is tough and not very well paid - they get approx A$8 per day for all this neck-breaking activity. It made us appreciate how easy our lives are in comparison. The area was super-serene - no industrial noise, just the gurgling river passing us by - makes the A$8 per day income worthwhile.
On the way back up from the quarry, we passed a guy who was making and painting eggs (wooden ones). We had a chat and learned how he made them. Each egg took him approx 5 hours to make!!! So we ended up buying 15 hours of his labour for about A$10. They are so pretty - and they each were placed in a specially handmade basket to keep them safe. I'm not sure when to haggle or really even how to haggle...but we haven't even considered that it is an option yet...things are so cheap to buy as it is!
Coffee and Spice Our next
stop was for morning tea at a coffee and spice plantation. We were served a morning tea of local cake and Balinese coffee. I opted to try the coffee black, as it came, to experience the real flavor and aroma, which they claimed was bitter. It was a very rich, yet smooth blend - I didn’t lament the lack of milk, it was very enjoyable.
The local farmer showed us around his farm explaining all the spices, fruit, flowers and other plants in his gardens and how they were all used. It was all so hands-on and natural - such a nice change to the chemical world we live in. He explained that they don’t even rely on butterflies, they cross pollinate the vanilla beans by hand themselves, time consuming work! Later he approached us with a pile of goodies that we could buy, the other couple weren’t interested, but we couldn’t help ourselves and bought something to have made his presentation worth his while.
Geocaching For the whole trip, I had my GPS on and was tracking our progress around the island. I had preloaded all the geocaches locations in also. It just so happened that
Romantic Dinner Setting
These were set up along the beach on the way back from the movie...maybe to give some serious hintage? we actually drove past one of the geocaches. I mentioned it to the driver and he let us get out and walk along the road a bit. I took the chance to bolt up into the café where this geocache was located. The GPS led me to a shelter being used by a couple of kids who were doing their homework. I was flashing the GPS unit on the way through the café in the hope that they might help me locate the hidden box - but I was largely ignored - there was a film crew filming something across the rice paddies from the café terrace, so no help for me. The two boys smiled and pointed at the roof…I looked, and peered and wandered around and had no luck finding anything - so I shrugged my shoulders and walked off. Oh well.
Camp Lunch The tour took us to a remote camp high in the hills. It was a long house made entirely of bamboo - the workmanship was very impressive. The food was something else also. We had corn soup, nasi goring, satay, corn sticks, rice dessert and apple pie - all washed down with
Spidey
Beautiful spider on the way down into the quarry. beer, then coffee, then cognac.
Hot Springs Next stop was a hot spring at a village deep in a set of rice paddies. We left the vehicles on the main road and walked in a little way through the rice paddies. There were temples and banyan trees all over the place. In the middle of one of the temples was a hot spring rich in iron - so much so that the water was a rusty orange tint. I had to be careful using the camera as there were some locals bathing in the water as it ran down the hill nearby. Balinese consider themselves “invisible” when they are bathing and cameras are a big no-no. We saw a few families bathing by the side of the road on a few occasions and there they were wearing nothing at all and you pretend you’ve seen nothing - it’s just another part of the countryside - another tree that flashes (pardon the pun) past the car as you drive by.
Russian Tourists The couple we shared the 4WD with today mentioned the recent proliferation of Russian tourists. They’ve sprung up in large numbers a lot recently -
The Quarry
Well...actually this is the top of the quarry...that bridge spans across it and the pit is a further 30m below. we haven’t noticed them so much in Australia, but we were encountering them here in Bali. Jane had the pleasure of being pushed out of the way by a couple browsing through a jewelry store in the hotel boutiques.
When our 4WD came to pick us up, the other couple had already asked who they were going to be sharing the vehicle with. They were very happy that it was to be Australians. Apparently they had shared a vehicle with some Russians the day before who decided that they would smoke in the car - when they were told to butt out, they offered money to ignore it and let them keep smoking. The driver returned to their hotel and kicked them out of the vehicle. Apparently most Russians are extremely arrogant and very pushy - they are not well regarded here.
Dogs I’m not sure what to make of the dogs here. They are everywhere! They all seem to be of a similar breed and I doubt they actually perform any useful tasks. So - are they a sign of prosperity? Is life so good that such a population of dogs can be supported? Is it
Carrying Stone
This woman is carrying blocks weighing approx 15kg EACH on her head about 1km from the quarry up to the roadside. She does this constantly without break all day...she's not fast, but she doesn't need to be. She has a very powerful athletic grace to her movements - well you would need to if you have 45kgs on your head. that animals do not get neutered, so breed on unchecked? Whatever, there are so many of them roaming around - I didn’t see any hanging around their owners being petted - they just wander around by themselves.
Temples and Offerings The main religion here is Hinduism. They are really big into temples - most homes have a private temple, most villages have a communal village temple. They’re all very impressive structures and add a real character to everywhere we went.
The other part of the Hindu religion is the offerings. They place offerings on their temples, out on the roads, all over the place. I’m don’t understand the significance of placing gifts of fresh fruits etc out on the road - but the chickens and dogs sure were getting a good feed out of it. Going on my previous section - I wonder if all the dogs here are vegetarian?
Traffic Oh…do I need to write about traffic? I’m not sure I can do traffic justice here…it’s like there needs to be a different word for it perhaps…traffic generally moves. Whatever it does here - well, it does move, but not like traffic as we
Paddy Ducks
After they harvest the rice, a lot of grain ends up on the paddy floor, so they let their ducks loose for a bit of a treat. know it…it sort of evolves. A two lane road today was being used as a 4 lane mash with interspersed motorbikes threading through at all sorts of angles. There wasn’t room for 4 lanes, 3 lanes was about the limit of the road - but as we were in a 4WD, we were thumping along through the puddles on the side of the road behind a bunch of scooters weaving around some massive craters…er…potholes…nah…craters is more accurate.
Then, they decided to hold a massive Hindu celebration on the main road back to our hotel, so we threaded back and forth through backstreets until we almost collided with the center of the festival. Some guys looked at us in shock and tried to wave us back, but there was nowhere to turn…so we pushed forward through the people and snuck around a few more back alleys before we got to line up for another mirror inspection before being allowed back into the hotel. I suggested that the driver put a sign under the vehicle that said “HELLO” so that the people using the mirrors had something to look at other than under-vehicle bodywork.
Dyana Villas Tomorrow we leave
the Intercontinental for the Dyana Villas. At first the Intercontinental people said they only do transfers to and from the airport. I said “fine…Dyanas said that Intercontinental should provide transfer, but if they don’t then they will…”. I don’t think the Intercontinental liked being shown up, so they offered to take us to the Dyana Villas free of charge. I guess it works out in the wash - Dyana Villas can then drop us back here instead of the airport as we’ve saved them one trip.
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