Bali

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Indonesia was not on our list at first but we had talked to other travelers and they highly recommended Bali and Indonesia. After browsing Air Asia's website there just happened to be an extremely cheap plane ticket from Kuala Lumpur so we decided there was nothing to lose and we went for it. So, we were off on another adventure!

We arrived in Denpasar late at night and our first impression was that it's more developed then we thought it would be. Developed but definitely not the same as your usual high tech society (like Hong Kong). As we were to find out, there is definitely a distinction between the fast pace of the city and the laid-back countryside where everybody is on island time (slow and chilled). With some luck we found a nice guesthouse with large rooms listed in the Lonely Planet called "Family Inn." We stayed in Denpasar town for a few days to rest from several long days on the road catching buses and flights and after dealing with the exhausting and expensive customs process at the Denpasar Airport.

Denpasar is a town with narrow streets and not many traffic lights. Roads are jammed full with cars and motorbikes and they are lined by temples that are lavish and carved with statues. There was a busy night market selling fresh produce and flowers, clothing and other home accessories. Indonesians have a laid back strategy but still irritating way to get you into their shop. Most vendors start with "look! No problem if you don't buy, just look, no problem," we hear this phrase as we are being followed around the market. One nice lady even started up a conversation and showed us where she buys her produce then she took us to her own stall where she sold mass produced Bali Sarongs and t-shirts. We had a look and in no time Geoff was dressed like a Bali man complete with Sarong and hat. We were curious about the price so we asked but this turned out to be a bad idea as when no money surfaced we were followed almost out of the market. We wish we had our own kitchen while walking through night markets like this one because the food is fresh and the variety is amazing. We wish we could cook our own meals (especially more recently) so we can avoid consuming lots of salt, msg and oil (also sometimes its nice to know what you are eating).

One night in Denpasar we wandered down to one of the local temples. Here hundreds of younger Balinese dressed in full costume were just hanging out in a park near the temple. It was really a neat experience as everyone was dressed so beautifully and it was so quiet despite so many people together. People were just sitting with their friends hanging out under the moonlight. We were both impressed by the beauty in which Balinese people live there lives.


March was a big month for the Balinese as the entire month was filled with celebrations leading up to the Balinese New Year called "Nyepi". We enjoyed the opportunity to see and experience the devout culture of the Balinese Hindu which seems to consume just about everybody and at all times of the day. Many locals are dressed in ceremony outfits (colourful sarong and headpieces - and ladies are balancing large beautiful and colourful baskets of flowers, fruit, and other offerings on their head as they arrive to the temples). Many locals make offerings with trays made from bamboo leaves filled with colourful flower peddles and burn incense in front of their homes, businesses and in/on vehicles/motorbikes. The offerings are all over the street and are offered in the morning and evening. Sometimes its hard to avoid stepping on the offerings because they are everywhere on the ground.

Kuta was a place where you can surf all day and drink all night/day. A place not only full of hawkers but tourists as well. Kuta was not the paradise we imagined it was. The beach was full of garbage and when you try to go for a swim, plastic bags wrap around your legs so it was not too pleasant. Walking back to your hotel you here the touts repeating "transport, you need transport!" (this phrase, I (Mazi) can hear it during my sleep because we heard it everywhere and everyday 24/7 during our stay in Indonesia we just could not escape this phrase walking down one block we would be asked by around 6-10 drivers. I admit it gets a little irritating and our reply gets a bit blunt and short). If we say no they often reply "how about tomorrow?" argh! We only spent one night here because we decided to search for a place that accurately represents the beauty of Bali.

The next day we headed to Sanur, which is a little tamer but we were still expecting something a bit nicer from the "Beautiful Bali" that everyone was raving about. After a quiet night, the next morning we took the local ferry to Nusa Lembongan hoping for beautiful landscape and turquoise water. We finally found paradise when we arrived at a beautiful but busy beach with friendly locals who weren't aggressively touting their services.

The scenery on Nusa Lembongan Island is impossible to describe with words. The sand is soft and white, the sea is blue, the island is green and from the hotel we stayed at you looked back on the volcano Gunung Agung on Bali Island. Really stunning! We rented scooters for a few days and cruised around the whole island as well as the neighbouring island called Nusa Ceningan. When we were exploring around the island we found a deserted resort with an impressive beach with huge waves crashing into a rocky cliff. As we were snooping around the lonely resort we dreamed about owning and staying at this place while relaxing in front of paradise.

*by the way as I am writing this there is a drunk Swedish man singing and playing Guitar behind me. He is translating his Swedish song into English and the lyrics are, well, you can use your imagination... Anyways I have to say we run into interesting people. Well back to the lonely resort...*

We walked around the area and found a rock cliff with locals fishing. While we were absorbing in the beautiful waterfront we spotted a Manta Ray which really made us want to go diving. When we were exiting the old resort, a local boy and his sister (who were waiting for us) invited us to order drinks at their cafe. By this time we were thirsty and the boy seemed funny so we followed him to a hut that sat right on the edge of a 40 foot cliff overlooking the ocean. Here we waited while our waiter retrieved our cold drinks (using his motorbike from a stand down the road). The boy who spoke English pretty well explained that he was a surfer and that we were sitting in his siesta hut of which he was somewhat afraid of because of the potential for big waves to crash down on it. We sat and enjoyed a pop chatting with him and his sister when at one point a pod of dolphins swam by several hundred metres away. It was really an amazing afternoon.

Nusa Lembongan is full of budget to high end resorts but this island manages to stay relaxed and laid back. Many surfers come to this island to relax and enjoy the big waves. Most beaches around the island are hard to swim in with the big waves but when its low tide it's nice to snorkel in the clear shallow water. Also, while it's low tide many locals are busy planting and harvesting seaweed which is sold to be used in cosmetics and for health food. They really worked hard at it and late into the evening after it got dark. While we snorkeled, they'd often pass us with their long wooden boats and give us a curious look, wave, or out right laugh. But we were excited to see many baby fish hiding in rocks and seaweed (highlights - oddest looking starfish (black with bright orange horns), eels, angel fish, and baby scorpion fish, lion fish, brown file fish, a cute baby yellow spotted box fish and a white and orange sea slug). Unfortunately after some really good days of snorkeling we managed to carelessly forget to double check that the camera case was sealed properly. So sadly to say the pictures after Nusa Lembongan are taken with our phone camera.

We went diving at Nusa Penida at Manta Point after a rainy night but we were motivated by our Manta sighting and it was definitely worth it. The water was a bit rough while boating out to the site but we managed to have an awesome adventure swimming with the mantas. We saw 3 manta rays at one time gliding around a cleaning station on top of a coral peak. The manta rays were massive (3x3 meters including tail) and swam very close to check us out. They were so smooth and powerful. Later, we dove at Crystal Bay which had beautiful coral and plenty of colourful fish despite the strong current.

Later, after we nearly ran out of money (because there are no ATM's on the islands) we jumped aboard the public boat back to Sanur beach in Bali. THe one thing we were happy to leave behind was the constant crow of the roosters that are kept in everyone's yard for the lucrative cock-fighting matches.

If you are into rice terraces and art/crafts Ubud is the place to go. We had a great time relaxing and admiring some of the local traditional handicrafts and modern art. This place seems to be full of artists (local and international) and every store and even people's garages had paintings and masks literally piled up, on displayed and for sale. There was also a tourist's market where prices are jacked sky high but some patient bargaining helps to bring the prices down. Also, after staying a few days in Ubud and after some exploring and asking around we got some tips on where to buy some local art with more reasonable price tags. We even figured out that the local market convenes at 6am in the same spot as the tourist market in between the stalls where locals can purchase produce and other amenities. At 7:30 am though, the market switches over as the tour buses arrive by 8am (pretty sneaky). No wonder the vendors can jack up the prices, tourists are shipped to the market everyday.

In Ubud we also went to a few Balinese Dance shows and really enjoyed the vibrant customs and music. One dance called the Kecak (pronounced keh-CHAK!) was done around a tower of torches under a covered temple where 100+ men sat cross-legged with only their sarong chanting a song with shouts and hollars (for emphasis). Meanwhile beautifully dressed dancers played out a story of seduction and battle. It was really exciting. At the end of the event a man apparently in a trance did a fire walk through burning coconut husks kicking embers all around and into the crowd.

From Ubud we also rented a scooter to explore the country side. On this trip we headed out of town up towards Gunung Batur (Mt. Batur) passing lots of rice paddies along the way. When we got to the top there is a village that looks over the volcano crater and which also overlooks the mountain that rises even further. From here we cruised our way through the fields of tomatoes, chillis and corn that were growing. We winded down some rough narrow roads into the countryside past kids making kites from waste plastic and sticks and string. Later we made our way around the volcano through some small villages near Lake Batur. At this point we were wondering how lost we were until we saw a white jeep carrying other explorers. We knew we were on the right path again.

Around Ubud its relaxing to explore around the rice terraces and enjoy the neatly organized and bright green rice paddies just a short walk from the town centre. Some artists have their studios right out amongst the paddies which also conveniently makes it easy for explorers to have a look at their goods. We stayed in a beautiful new guesthouse just off of Monkey Forest Road for five days. Unfortunately we had a bit of a misunderstanding at the end. Lets just say respect for customers sometimes seems to be tied directly to whether or not there is an opportunity to make money.

From Ubud we caught a shuttle to Padangbai port to catch a ferry to Lombok.

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After we returned from Lombok we went to a resort area called Candidasa where we stayed at a nice hotel and enjoyed the sunset after a long hot day of travel. Then, Geoff and I rented a scooter for two full days to drive along the North Coast of Bali. From Candidasa we drove north along the highway with Gunung Agung on our left and the coast on our right. We stopped at a a temple and public bath called Tam Tirta Gangga. Trying to head to a beach area called Ahmed we got lost but drove our little scooter up a small mountain road to a beautiful White coloured temple. Here we explored the temple with great Balinese carvings and perfect views of the volcano Gunung Agung. From here we cruised the highway, letting locals blast by us as we cruised past rice terraces letting countless bandwagons filled with campaigners for the upcoming election. We rode on until it got dark and we found a quiet resort to stay the night. The beach along the North Coast had black soft sand which was really unique. We enjoyed sunsets along the way and took in the scenery as we made our way to Lovina.

We did a quick cruise by the beach in Lovina which is fairly developed with lots of guesthouses and restaurants. Then we headed west and then south into the hills and overland back towards Ubud stopping for some fresh local grub along the way.

Into the hills we past some beautiful areas with towns and rice terraces surrounded by jungle. The temperature cooled off as well which was welcome. We drove up a windy road past small towns then we drove another steep windy road up to some towns near Lake Brattan and Lake Buyan. Here the scenery was really pretty with orange orchards growing and fields of flowers that are sold in the city markets for ceremony. The wind was cool and refreshing.

On our way down from the hills we stopped at another small "warung" with tasty Nasi Campur (the famous rice vegey and spicy chicken dish). We navigated some small backroads asking for directions along the way wondering if we were ever going to find Ubud but eventually we made it. We arrived to find a huge traffic jam just on the edge of town which was caused due to a big parade with everyone dressed in their ceremonial outfits The women carried colourful baskets with offerings and drums and instruments were blasting. The scooter parade that followed managed to squeeze their way through (a little scary, I have seen more than enough exhaust burns on tourists legs so I really didn't want one. 😊

Overall Bali was a beautiful place and most locals are honest and friendly (most run on rubber/island time). The only scams we really came across was being told by vendors they don't have any small change to give back. It was fine letting them get away with it the first few times but it got really annoying. It's tough arguing for a few cents. We did have a big whoops when we were flying out of Bali...drum roll...we over stayed our visa. The stupid thing was we talked to a couple and they did the same thing the first time they came to Bali a few weeks before us. Well we had to pay more to get out. 200,000 Rp/person ($20USD) mandatory to leave and on top of that we paid another 200,000 Rp/person ($20 USD) for overstaying our visa. Entering and exiting Bali was not cheap but worth the experience and scenery. For next time we just need to remember to count the day on arrival and the day of departure as part of our days in Indonesia. WHOOPS!

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Photos

Denpesar
Statue at the front door of home and temples

Sanur
fishing along the shore

Sanur
We were relaxing under one of these pavillons

Sanur
Geoff posing for the camera

Sanur - Nusa Lembongan
A local boat packed full with a motorbike. We were suppose to take that one...yikes

Sanur - Nusa Lembongan
Instead...we took this boat.

Nusa Lembongan
Temple

Nusa Lembongan - Snorkeling
water slug