-Aaron Teacher
GOODBYE KOREA:
JAN 13TH
Aaron and I got to the airport about an hour early, and had plenty of time to kill before our flight! Luckily the airport near Busan is tiny, so security took about 3 minutes!!
Me with my Bali tickets!
We had a night layover in Hong Kong and decided to sleep in the airport! We learned our lesson, and won't be doing that on our way back to Korea! It was FREEZING, but funny, of course!! We are always trying to make the best out of our situations!
Our plane from Hong Kong to Bali was HUGE. It was a double decker and had more movies and TV shows to watch than any plane I'd ever been on! It even had electrical outlets under our seat tables, so I could re-charge my ipod! I can't imagine where technology will be 10 years from now!
Our fligts were REALLY turbulent, but were comfortable! We didn't crash... so I can't complain! :)
DAY 1
ARE YOU SURE THIS IS BALI?
JAN 13TH
We were so excited to get to the beach when we arrived, so we had a taxi take us straight from the airport to the cheapest hotel in Kuta Beach, so we could start our day in paradise! Here's where I stayed! It's called Puspa Ayu Bungalows. It only cost me $10.00 a night! How ridiculous is that?! Aaron is showing off how awesome my porch was to sit on!
We quickly changed into our bathing suits, and walked (3 minutes) to Kuta beach, which we had read was arguably the best beachfront in Bali! Arguably would be the correct word, because we would argue that it WAS NOT! *** Unfortunately, we chose just the wrong couple days to stay in Kuta! They are doing a clean up project on the beach this week, due to the "red tide" (poison plankton that was in the water) which poisoned some of the fish and turtles. So, they are basically sweeping the water for trash and dead stuff.
Here are some things we found washed up on the beach...
Yes, this is a dead dog and turtle!!! How gross is that?!
As disgusting as it was, we still enjoyed looking for the grossest things we could find in the trash piles to take pictures of! :)
On a more positive note, we did come across this beautiful Balinese beach ceremony to the gods.
On a more positive note, we did come across this beautiful Balinese beach ceremony to the gods.
After walking the beach, we decided to grab lunch and explore the rest of the area. Lunch was delicious, and cost the equivalent of $2.00!
Balinese are VERY religious, and offering these small handmade baskets of fruit, flowers, and crackers in front of their stores is a daily ritual! By the end of the day, all of the stray dogs had eaten the fruit and crackers, and had left the baskets and flowers in shambles across the sidewalks!
Here's a little cutie-pa-tootie local boy selling bracelets on the street.
Ceremonies happen daily in Bali. It is a known fact that ceremonies come before work, so it's not uncommon for businesses to close down when employees attend religious or cultural ceremonies.
This is the traffic....
This is the traffic....
... caused by this ceremony! They basically just started walking down the street, so the traffic had to stop.
Balinese are VERY used to waiting patiently for these types of things. They are also VERY used to driving kids and babies on their scooters!! CRAZY huh?!
We walked back to the beach to watch the sunset last night. As you can see, it was GORGEOUS!!!
After the sunset, we grabbed some ice cream and walked back to our hotels, and ordered dinner, which was delivered to my front porch, free of charge! We ate on my front porch, on the whicker chairs, with John Mayer serenading us on my ipod! The locals, working at the hotel, came over and hung out with us for a while, and helped us make plans for this morning. We are going to rent scooters and drive south to Ulu Wata, the beach where Julia Roberts filmed EAT, PRAY, LOVE (coming to theaters soon!) and it's supposed to be beautiful! Here's hoping!!
DAY 2
SCOOTERS DOWN SOUTH
Not only was my hotel a mere $11.00 a night, breakfast was included! I ordered pineapple crepes, watermelon juice, and fresh pineapple! I could definitely get used to this!
Aaron reading on my front porch...
We also found this fake surfing wave, practically abandoned, on the side of the road! We couldn't pass it up!
DAY 2
SCOOTERS DOWN SOUTH
Not only was my hotel a mere $11.00 a night, breakfast was included! I ordered pineapple crepes, watermelon juice, and fresh pineapple! I could definitely get used to this!
Sadly, it started to rain, so we decided to sit on my front porch and do a little reading (and a little bit of yahtzee with the ipod!)
Aaron reading on my front porch...
After the rain died down, we rented scooters from the hotel and began our adventure! We rode from Kuta Beach all the way down south to Ula Watu (66 km total) on separate scooters through heavy traffic and barren country roads. Aaron said he was afraid if anything happened to me while he was driving, he would fear the wrath from my friends and family! That's why we took separate scooters! I didn't mind at all... It only cost me $5.00 to rent it for the day, and I didn't die! Can't complain. :)
We did have to stop for gas one time because my scooter ran out!! Oops! Notice how they are pouring it from a glass bottle, through a funnel into the gas tank! There are no ARCO's around here! They're all mom and pop stores with bottled petroleum.
While they were filling up my gas tank, I found this little guy...
There are stray dogs and puppies EVERYWHERE!!!
We also found this fake surfing wave, practically abandoned, on the side of the road! We couldn't pass it up!
We finally made it to Ula Watu Beach, 3 hours after our departure from Kuta, and were starving! We had lunch on the top of this cliff, overlooking the beach. The food was good and cheap, and we had women who came over and gave us neck and shoulder massages for the equivalent of $2.50 while we waited for our food! Good food, great view, and a massage... YES PLEASE!
After lunch, we hiked down to the beach... There was a very narrow path that lead to a cave, which then lead to the beach. Nothing like Huntington where you just park and walk straight to the sand. You've gotta do some adventuring to get anywhere around here.
Here it is folks! Ula Watu beach! Unfortunately, it wasn't really a swimming beach. Apparently, it's world renouned for it's waves! 7 currents come together at this beach, which creates a bit of a surfers heaven! The waves were too big for ME, so we decided to head over to Dream Land Beach, which we had heard was where Julia Roberts filmed EAT, PRAY, LOVE!
On our way back to the scooters, from Ula Watu, it started to rain a little... and then within seconds, with no warning, it DOWN POURED!!! Imagine the scene in The Notebook where Noah and Alli are on the boat and it starts to rain and they're yelling at each other and paddling as fast as they can... Well, erase the yelling and paddling part and that's basically what it was like! We were dying laughing, and realized there was nothing we could do but just laugh and get drenched!!
If you look really closely, you can tell how hard it's raining. These were the steps from Ula Watu Beach, back up to our scooters.
We finally made it to Dream Land... It was not as dreamy as we had hoped for. :( There were too many toursists for our taste, so we only stayed for a little bit. Plus, we had to do some doctoring to Aaron's foot and sand was not the remedy. He was pushing his kick stand down and sliced his big toe pretty bad! I had an awesome picture of it, but it's on his little camera, and the computer cord is back in Korea. :(
As we were eating breakfast, we saw this boat pull in with supplies for all of the local stores. They unloaded the supplies onto the shore...
As we were driving to Dream beach, I snapped this picture of a local TV area! When sports are on, all of the locals pile into these community TV bungalows and huddle up, nice and close, to watch and cheer together! I love this idea and the way it brings people from the community together!
Finally, we made it to Dream Beach!
After the ride, I was feeling a little yucky, so I layed here in the shade for a while....
... while Dan and Aaron sat and talked sports in the sun!
Most of the day, at Dream Beach, was spent swiming and crashing in the waves! The water is crystal clear, and the sand is fluffy and white! It's a beautiful place!
We took the jumping pictures on Dan's camera... so sorry, you'll just have to imagine what we looked like! We all went together, at the same time, which was really fun! FYI though: If you're ever going to jump off a bridge, don't land in the splits! I'm walking with a limp and can barely move my left leg and it's been over 12 hours now! (Don't worry mom.... it' just a soar muscle!)
Kadek found this amazing starfish in the deep water, when we were swimming to shore! It looked like it has hershey kisses glued to it and was really heavy!
The whole crew~ Aaron, Me, Nyoman, Jaime, Dan, Kelsey, and Kadek after we all jumped!
We all went back to our places to take showers and meet back up for the cock fight on Penida Island, but as soon as we met up to ride over there, it started pouring rain... so Dan and Aaron and I all decided to lounge around in the courtyard of our place instead!! I got through 100 pages of my new book (The 5 People You Meet in Heaven, by the same author as Tuesdays With Morrie!) As you can probably imagine, it rained the rest of the night! We welcomed the rain with open arms, since it cools off the place and gives us a break from the heat!
It's 8:20am right now, here in paradise... Unfortunately, there are gray clouds above us, so it may rain again today. We're not going to let it ruin our last full day here though! We'll make the best of it, like we always do! We're leaving on the morning boat tomorrow to Sanur and then will head to the airport, where we'll catch a plane to Hong Kong. Then we'll be in Hong Kong for the night... Hopefully we'll get out and see the town while we're there! :)
Until next time...
DAY 18
ONE LAST TRIP AROUND THE ISLAND!
As it turned out, DAY 18 was fabulous! The gray clouds moved their little selves out of the sky around 9am, and all we could see was blue the entire day! What a wonderful treat for our last full day in Indonesia!
We rented the scooter again and decided to take one last ride around the entire island... Here are some pictures I took along the way of the locals:
Can you tell we're both HUGE animal lovers!?
When we left the beach, we rode about 200 meters away, to a grassy area with a beautiful view. When we got back on the bike to head out, look who we had found! TICK!!! She limped all the way over to where we were! What a little smooch, huh?!
We said our long goodbyes, and then rode over to Ceningan Island to watch one last cock fight, but it was canceled for the night. We were still glad we headed over there because we were able to see, and say goodbye to, Nyoman and his brothers, who we have become close with over the week!
** One cultural side note that's worth sharing: Hindu's use a cast system... So, they will always ask you things like: Where you are going? Where did you come from? Where are you staying? What birth order are you? and... Are you married yet? It helps them know where to place you in their Hindu cast system. So, being that Aaron and I were always together, we would often get asked if we were married yet. Apparently, you should never just say "No." Rather, you should always answer by saying, "Not yet," even if you have no intentions of ever marrying! If you say "No" it throws them for a loop, and they don't know where to place you in their system. So, we would always answer, "Not yet" and start laughing! Then they would say they wanted to come to our wedding, which made us laugh even harder! It made for some fairly awkward, but funny moments with the locals!
We rode over to Sunset Beach...
... just as the sun was setting, to watch the waves crash and, of course, the sun set! Unfortunately, there was a gigantic cloud in the way, but the small area under the cloud filled the sky with blues, reds, and oranges... and that was beautiful enough for us!
We had dinner back at Bungalow No 7 with Dan, Jaime, and Kelsey, and then bid farewell for the night!
DAY 19
"HELLO, TRANSPORT?"
We got up nice and early for our last morning on Lembongan Island and said goodbye to all our local friends at the hotel. Dan was up early, eating breakfast, before his big scuba dive, which was a nice treat for us to be able to say goodbye!
We jumped on the crowded boat and lounged for an hour and a half till we arrived back in Bali, at Sanur Beach. We had 6 hours till our flight left, so we shopped around a bit (Lynzi, I found something for Blakely!), but were hounded, the entire time by taxi drivers asking, "Hello, Transport?" It makes sense, since we were holding our bags, but I honestly don't think it would be an exagerration to say we heard it over 70 times in the couple hours we were in Sanur!
... and ate some delicious Balinese sweet corn for breakfast!
When it was time to go, we hailed a cab and headed for the airport. We were both a little hungry, so we stopped here for lunch, just outside the airport. I say this, because I think it's worth saying that when you order food in Indonesia, your personal meal will NEVER, ever, ever, come out at the same time as your friends! Look at Aaron's plate (completely finished) just as mine was placed on the table.
We were given 2 toothbrushes... probably as a peace offering! I kinda wonder if the lady felt bad for offering us such a shady room!
DAY 20
3 COUNTRIES IN 3 NIGHTS!
It's crazy to think I will have slept in 3 different countries in 3 consecutive nights! Ahhh, the life of a traveler. I could get used to this!
Busan, South Korea
If you look really closely, you can tell how hard it's raining. These were the steps from Ula Watu Beach, back up to our scooters.
We finally made it to Dream Land... It was not as dreamy as we had hoped for. :( There were too many toursists for our taste, so we only stayed for a little bit. Plus, we had to do some doctoring to Aaron's foot and sand was not the remedy. He was pushing his kick stand down and sliced his big toe pretty bad! I had an awesome picture of it, but it's on his little camera, and the computer cord is back in Korea. :(
On our drive back home to Kuta Beach, we decided to take a side road, which lead through the REAL BALINESE NEIGHBORHOODS... I spotted this brother and sister on the side of the road. She was teaching him how to ride his bike! Notice there is no tire on the front wheel... but, hey WHO CARES! :) They were both more than happy to stop and smile for a few pictures!
We made it back, safely to Kuta Beach and were starving, so we looked in the Lonely Planet book and found this food court of sorts, with all of the international food you could imagine! We both decided on Turkish! But before we decided, we were bombarded by the employees who stand in front of each restaurant, who shoved their menus in our faces and told us over and over again how they liked our smile and to eat at their place!
We made it back, safely to Kuta Beach and were starving, so we looked in the Lonely Planet book and found this food court of sorts, with all of the international food you could imagine! We both decided on Turkish! But before we decided, we were bombarded by the employees who stand in front of each restaurant, who shoved their menus in our faces and told us over and over again how they liked our smile and to eat at their place!
Mmm pita bread!
We spent the rest of the night, exploring the town on the scooter, in the pouring rain! Gotta love rainy season in Bali. It keeps things nice and humid! :)
Tomorrow morning, we're getting up bright and early to go to Gili Meno (The Gili Islands). It's so small you can literally walk around it in an hour! We're leaving at 6am and are arriving at 4pm. 2 busses and 2 boats! We can't wait to get there and lounge! Not sure if we'll have internet, and not too sure how long we'll stay... So check back day to day! I may have an update tomorrow, or next week! Until next time.... Tah tah!
DAY 3
IM ON A BOAT
I'm on a bus... I'm on a boat... I'm in a van... I'm on another boat... 13 hours later - I'm on an Island!!!
Day 3 was definitely a TRAVELING day! We had no idea it would take us so long to get to Gili Meno Island.... but we made quite a few memories along the journey. I'll bullet point them for you, so you don't spend all day reading the details... I know some of you need to get back to work!! :)
* Got picked up by a driver at 6:00am
* Drove an hour to a pier.
* Saw a lot of temples along the road.
* Noticed quite a few offering basket made of bamboo propped up near the entrance to stores and homes.
* Finally arrived at the pier. (2 hours before the 9:00am ferry was scheduled to depart... This is all part of the tour agencies plan. They told us to get off the bus and order breakfast at a certain cafe. We had fallen into their little trap, but whatever!)
* The 9:00am Ferry Boat was to capacity, so we sat here and waited for the 10:00am. We were continuously haggled by locals trying to sell sunglasses, fruit, snacks, etc... Funny thing is that the same guys selling sunglasses would come by over and over and over again asking if we wanted to buy some!
* I spotted these adorable little girls selling fruit and snacks by the port.
* There are wild chickens EVERYWHERE on this Island!
*And puppies too! The owner of this shop tried to sell this one to me for 20,000 Rupiahs, which is about $2.50! Anyone want an Indonesian puppy?!
* The women in Indonesia can all do this! They carry huge things on their heads! I saw one woman carrying about 50 lbs of wood! Amazing!!
* Aaron and I decided we should buy some food for the ferry... So, we bought some from this lady. It was 20,000 Rupiahs, and we had 18,000, so we haggled with her. I offered one of my razors to cover the extra cost and she obliged! :)
DAY 4
I'M ON AN ISLAND
Last night was an adventure, for SURE! The Gili Islands are known for power outages, and we had one! While we were eating dinner, the power went off on the ENTIRE island and it was pitch black! I was dying to take a shower, so I showered in the dark, with freezing cold water! Gotta love traveling!
I have to include this picture of the bathroom in my bungalow! Have you ever seen such a huge shower?! It's too bad they didn't put a sink in that huge area! Oh, and the water you shower with here is all salt water! :)
It rained all night last night, with loud clangs of thunder and lightning every couple minutes! Believe it or not, my bungalow was completely water resistant! :) Pretty cool looking, huh?!
It rained most of the morning too... :( But we were both so happy to be on vacation that we didn't really care!
We took a little walk on the sand during low tide to look for shells in between the rain storms. I've definitely found my match when it comes to shell searching! Aaron is quite the pro!
Check out this gigantic crab we found!
I've never, in my entire life (that I can remember), held a live starfish!
Here's my room!
DAY 5
SNORKELING AND RELAXING
Woke up at 6:30am, thanks to Aaron, who came to my door and said "Let's go for a walk!" So, we walked into town to get some breakfast! (35 min walk) along this pathway, just in from the shoreline! It wraps around the entire Island. You can actually walk it in 2 hours! That's how small this place is!
We stopped a couple times to do things like catch baby chickens while this lady fed them...
... admire the wild purple bouganvilla...
... and the other beautiful flowers, native to the island!
Breakfast was banana pancakes, with Knotts Berry Farm honey, overlooking the ocean! How cool is that?!
After eating banana pancakes on the beach, we walked over to the internet place. There are only 2 on the entire island, and one was closed because the owner went to Lombok, and the other internet place was down. So sad... This was what happened everytime I went into town for the next 3 days! Which is why you're reading this so late in the trip.
Instead of walking along the shoreline, we decided to walk through the middle of the island, since that's where the natives all live! There were palm trees everywhere and thousands of mosquitos to go along with them! We had bites all over our bodies! Lesson learned... don't walk through the middle of the island, near the lake!
When we finally got back to the bungalow, we relaxed and did some reading in the hammocks. That's when we met Tongues (our favorite cat on the island). Tongues is like a lap dog! He follows us everywhere and always wants to be where we are! We named him Tongues, because when we would pet him, he would purr and kneed, and his tongue would always be hanging out just a little!
When the sky started to clear a little, we met up with Max and Baola and did some snorkeling! We really wanted to see the turtles, but the waves were huge, and trying to walk with flippers in the ocean was interesting!
While we didn't see any turtles, we did find the most incredible blue starfish! It was huge... about the size of an over-sized dinner plate, and was bright royal blue, like the picture below! I'd never seen anything like it before.
We would have loved to have been able to take showers after being in the ocean, but there was no water! I took this picture later in the week when I saw the water being delivered! Yep, this is the amount of water supply this place had! Talk about needing to conserve, huh?!
We had lunch with Max and Baola on the beach and while we were eating, we noticed that the water bottles here all say to "keep away from smelly goods!" hmmmm...
This was the mama cat at the place were were staying! She was really mean and would usually kick her babies in the head when they were trying to eat! We had to feed her and keep her occupied so her little one could jump under her to get some milk!
We ordered dinner and ended up taking it up to my place, because the mosquitoes were in full effect! so, we sat under the mosquito net, and relaxed with our yummy food!
As you can see, there's not much to do here! We love it! This is what a vacation is all about!
DAY 6
SHELL SEARCHING!
We both woke up around 8:30am and ordered breakfast at our place! I'll bet you can guess what we ate! Yep, banana pancakes! :)
We put on our bathing suits and decided to take a walk around the island! We walked about 45 minutes and the water was calling our names, so we jumped in and swam for an hour or so here! There were only 2 other people in the water, and they were at least 200 feet away! This place is basically a deserted island!
Aaron and I revert back to our childhood, fairly often, when we're together. Case in point, we played a game called "Pick it up with your toe" that we made up! We would create a category, ie: the biggest piece of coral, and we would each try to pick it up with our toes in the water. The best one would win!
When we had had enough swimming, we decided to keep walking... This is when the shell searching began! We found some of the most amazing shells laying in these mounds of coral on the shoreline.
We're so proud of them, we took plenty of pictures for you to see! You can't find these in Huntington!
This was our first find of the day! (I found this one!)
I found this one too!
Aaron found this one! He said it's his favorite.
He found this one too! This one is my favorite!
As we were walking around the island, a storm started brewing over the water, so, we knew it was time to kick it into high gear and get back to our place! We had cameras to protect!
When we got back, it was pouring! We have definitely come during rainy season! We were peaking out the wooden slatted shutters in my room at some people who were showering out in the rain, and were thinking, "They're crazy!" But, then we thought, no, we're crazy! We have sea water all over us! Let's take showers in the rain! So, we went out, with our bathing suits on, and showered in the rain! It was one of the coolest things I've ever done!
After the rain settled, I layed in the hammock and read for a while...
... then decided to walk into town to see if the internet was working! Unfortunately, it wasn't up and running, but I was able to get some great pictures of some locals!
For such a small island, with such little resources, we were shocked at their expansive menus! Where the heck does all this food come from!?
We decided to have dinner at Good Heart Bungalow; the hotel next to ours. The food was awesome! It was a great ending to an awesome relaxing day on the island!
DAY 7
I'M ON A BOAT... AGAIN!
We thought day 4 was a traveling day... Well, we had no idea!! Day 7 was 18 hours of traveling! You'd think we were going back to the US!
Luckily, we were still able to enjoy ourselves! Here are some pictures from the van and the boat! ENJOY:
When we were leaving Gili Meno, we jumped onto a small boat, holding way too many people, and got stuck in the sand!! The locals, along with some of the tourist, pushed and pulled ropes and anchors until we finally were freed of the sand! This was a 30 minutes ordeal!
When we arrived on land, we took this horse drawn carriage to the parking lot down the road to catch our van!
I noticed our van even had an offering, hanging tightly to it's windshield!
While we were waiting to leave, we met this guy, name Full. We talked for a long time with him about life in Bali. He is a high school graduate, and would love to go back to school, but he doesn't have the money to do it. He sells these necklaces near the port, and makes the equivalent of about $3.00 a day, on a good day. I think this is probably the case for most young Indonesian men. We asked him what he would recomend we see in Bali, and he said he had never been to Bali. (Take out a map and look. Lombok to Bali is REALLY close!) At this moment, I realized just how fortunate I really am.
Before we knew it, we were making the treck back in Bali in the first van of the day! The outskirts of Lombok is gorgeous! It's lush, with palm trees and rice fields everywhere!
I fell in love with this river! I saw it on the way to Gili Meno, and had to take a picture! What I would give to live near something this beautiful!
As we were driving through the town, I noticed this lady, walking up to the cars and scooters, asking for money for the building of the mosque nearby! Sounds like a good way to do a building project, huh?! Unfortunately, this would never work in America!
Driving through town...
... and back into the forest!
Finally, we made it to our Ferry! This one was different than our first one... a bit smaller, and a little cleaner. We quickly settled here, at a small table and chairs near the ledge.
Our boat actually had a mosque on it!
I have to include this picture, because I have to take a moment to show the extremely long finger nails of the Balinese men! We saw this guy on our boat, selling food. Whenever I ask them why they're so long, they always tell me different stories, like: "Growing them out is my hobby" and "I do it to play guitar." I overheard another foreigner saying that they grow them out to show that they don't work in the fields! Either way, it's DISGUSTING! I think Aaron is trying to do it too, because his nails are getting pretty long! I am encouraging it though, because it makes back scratches sooo much better! My skin is so darn itchy from being burnt! (sorry mom... One day without sunscreen! I've learned my lesson!)
While this ferry did probably go a little bit faster, we ended up waiting in the ocean for 2 1/2 hours, in one spot, for our turn to enter the port! On the positive side, we got to watch the sunset over the water! On the not so positive side, it ended up being a 9 hour boat ride!
... luckily they had a little snack bar with Tim Tams to fill out tummies! Unfortunately, 2 Tim Tams is 497 calories though! That will be the last time I send Aaron to the snack bar to pick out something!
When we got off the Ferry, we were met by a Balinese man who loaded us and another couple into his air conditioned SUV (so nice!) and drove us to Ubud. He was a crazy driver, so I closed my eyes and tried to sleep! This was the first time I ever put my seat belt on!
We arrived around 11:00pm, and were really lucky to find a great place to stay at such a late hour! It's actually a guest house of sorts, and it sits right near a river. There are 2 rooms, which is perfect, and an adorable yellow retriever to keep us company!
More pictures and blogs to come! It's time to go explore Ubud!
DAY 8
UBUD IS WONDERFUL!
We are staying at a beautiful home, called Anggada in the heart of Ubud. It's about 200 feet from the famous art market, and I'm only paying $6.00, oh and breakfast is included! What a deal huh?
Free breakfast brought to your room!
This is their security dog... Not sure how much security he would be able to do, other than lick and wag his tail! :)
The homes here are really interesting. You walk through a front entrance, like this one...
Then, when you walk inside, there are lots of different rooms, leading out to a courtyard... Some of the rooms are actually outside, with beds. It's really cool. Here are some pictures from within our little compound.
This is the view from my balcony, looking to a restaurant on the main road. The black on either side is forest, and down below is a river! It's pretty awesome!
I did some blogging in the morning and then met up with Aaron and had lunch here, at Balina Lagoon, a small restaurant near the place we're staying.
There were sooo many choices, and all of there were so cheap! About 9,000 Balinese Rupiah = $1.00
mmmmm!!!!
After lunch, we decided to rent a scooter, so we could ride around and check out the town! It was $5.00 a day and came with full tank of gas! Aaron was more brave and decided we could share one!
We rode down the main road as students were getting out of school. Here are some girls... notice the uniform is all white, and they have to wear their hair in 2 braids.
Here's the boys school! Gorgeous huh?!
We read in the lonely planet book that the Sacred Monkey Forest was a definite must see when coming to Ubud, so we rode the scooter over to check it out!
There were literally hundreds of monkeys. They were everywhere!!! This one stole a ladies bag of crackers as she was getting it out of her bag!
And this one stole this guys ice cream!
What a little smooch huh?!
Yep, there's one on my back!
And there's another one climbing up my arm! They're CRAZY!
I had no idea monkeys could swim... but there was a little pond in the middle of the forest where they were all jumping in and swimming!
While we were there, we ran into this couple from Oregon. It's nearly impossible to find other Americans... most people are from Europe, Australia, or Asia. So, when you hear an American accent, it's hard not to say hello. What's crazy though, is this couple is from Grants Pass, a teeny tiny city in Oregon where Kevin and all his best friends get their tatoos done by a guy named Jeff Gogue. What's even crazier was that she had a tatoo by Jeff! I mean come on... what are the chances?!
Me and Aaron in the forest!
I'm not sure that I've ever seen a leaf bigger than this one!
Aaron near the stream that ran through the middle of the forest.
mmmm, bananas!
You'd think this was somewhere in Disneyland or something, but this is the REAL DEAL!
It was raining when we got to the Monkey Forest, so I bought this awesome umbrella from a lady outside the gate for about $8.00! Unfortuntely, I put it down at one point while we were there, and I forgot it. When we went back, it was gone. :( Guess Indonesia isn't quite like Korea where you can leave things laying around and no one touches them.
Aaron has a really funny video that goes along with this picture that I'll upload when I get back home. This monkey jumped on me and was biting my shirt and punching me in the back!!! It was soooo scary!
We especially liked rule # 5. "If the monkey jumps on you, stand still and walk away slowly." So, do we stand still, or walk away... I'm confused!
After we had seen enough of the monkeys, we walked into town and got some ice cream from a little antique shop in the heart of Ubud.
As you've seen, they lay offerings infront of their homes and stores... so during the day, when business is slow, they prepare the baskets for the following day.
We decided to check out the famous art market in the heart of Ubud! It was overwhelming, but awesome!!!
This woman had such a sweet soul and a beautiful smile, I couldn't resist buying one of her little wooden monkeys. I've decided I'll stain it and use it as a Christmas ornament!
You'd think these were Billabong flip flops, but don't be fooled... They're Balibong!
There was sooo much to look at here!
Outside the art market
This was a trash can along the sidewalk, near the art market. I guess if the dogs don't eat the offerings, they go here, in this trash!
Anyone need a basket?!
After doing some shopping, we hopped on the scooter and rode about 3 miles to a place where thousands of Heron's fly to at 6:00pm EVERYNIGHT! The locals believe they are the spirits of the deceased. It was incredible! They filled the trees down this entire road!
A Heron, sitting in the rice fields...
We rode for a while, down this narrow road, through the village where the locals live. I had gotten off the bike to take a picture of a home and Aaron said, "Hey look above you! There's bananas!"
I asked Aaron to stop the scooter for a quick second so I could take his picture...
... and this is the nice scar I'll have to commemorate the moment! As I was getting off the scooter, my leg touched the exhaust! Ouch!!!
We stopped at a little roadside snack bar to grab some snacks! 1 small bag of chips and a coke, all for the the measley price of .40 cents!!!
Which, of course, we had to toast to!
The road was gorgeous, and was covered in rice paddies!
Can you believe this woman?! I can barely steady a book on my head and stand still!
We're becoming experts at navigating around this country! Somehow we made it back into town! :)
We stopped into this little restaurant for some Babi Guling (Pig roasted on a stick!)
After dinner, we walked over to the Palace.
Earlier in the day, we had been solicited to purchase tickets for this show, inside the Palace courtyard! 80,000 rupiah (about $10.00) But, when we walked by the palace after dinner, the doors were wide open, so we walked right in! We got to watch the show for free!!!
It was a great adventurous day!! We're hoping to have just as much adventure today, mixed with some relaxation! I'm off to get my 11:00am massage! :)
DAY 9
MASSAGES AND RICE PADDIES
DAY 9 was all about relaxation in the morning, and exercise and adventure in the afternoon!
We started the morning with our usual breakfast at the place, and then did some blogging and interneting. It's a good thing I enjoy writing my blogs, because they take FOREVER! As I was sitting, writing my blog, I could hear kids screaming and crying outside the door, so I went out to see what was going on... and this is what I saw! Yes, they are weighing him! haha
When I was finished, we rode the scooter for a while and decided to grab some lunch at the same place we went yesterday! We noticed the same European man as we saw yesterday and decided to strike up a conversation with him. Turns out, he's lived all over the world and currently lives in Bali doing some sort of interior architectural design. He grew up in Austria and knows German, Italian, French, Chinese, and English! He was a Psychiatrist for a while in Austria and then began some business ventures. He told us all about the secret side of Indonesia... Here are some things, we had no idea about:
1. The dances were created by Europeans when tourism became popular 40 years ago. They did have dances before this, but they were very simple, and the clothing was not colorful, bright, and beautiful.
2. The temple structures within the living compounds were built for their ancestors... and many times the families will try to build the nicest, with the most gold, to impress their neighbors.
3. Women have virtually no rights in Bali.
4. Bali doesn't follow Indonesian law.
After talking with him and eating lunch, we rode the scooter over to the market to meet the old man who offered to give me an hour long massage for 20,000 Rupiah. When we arrived there, he didn't seem to recognize me, so I asked a man standing by where I could get a massage, and he said, "This man, here" and pointed to the old man, sitting on the curb. Aaron asked, "Where does he do it?" and his answer was, "Here on the street!" hahaha. Not exactly the massage I had in mind... So, we jumped on the scooter, in search of a REAL massage place.
We landed at Massage Bliss, where I had a 1 hour Balinese Massage, a sea salt scrub (boobs included... that was weird), and a warm bath with fresh flower petals! It was incredible... all for the measly price of $10.00!!!!!
After massage time, we rode the scooter for a bit, to check out the surroundings! I found this beautiful entrance to a home!
We had read in the Bali Lonely Planet book about a beautiful 2 mile hike through the jungle, rice paddies, and Ayung river, and decided it sounded like fun. So, we found the starting point: Sayan Terrace Hotel. What a gorgeous view huh?!
We asked where the trail was that lead down to the water, and we were pointed in the direction of a very old, warn out, and overgrown pathway. We laughed at what was staring us in the eyes, and started the trek down the VERY steep and muddy jungle hillside!
And, finally, with no broken bones (thank goodness!) we made it to the river!
Then, about 200 feet away, we found this staircase leading to where we had started! hahahha!
We began walking along the river and were stopped by this lady, who informed us that the land was private land and that we should cross over to the other side of the river and walk through the rice paddies instead. So, we followed her into the river! She promised us it wasn't very deep, but by the time we made it to the other side, my clothes were completely soaked and I had had a good laugh along the way!
As we were walking through the jungle, she pointed to this banana tree! She said I could try one, but that it wouldn't taste very good, because it wasn't ready! But, you know me and fruit, it can NEVER taste bad... so, I pulled one off the tree...
... and bit into it!
and then I spit it out! She was right! It was disgusting. It tasted like biting into a piece of chalk! She laughed, of course, and said I'm like a monkey!
We saw coffee beans...
... chocolate...
.... a snake, which she found slithering across the pathway... ehh!
... papayas...
... mango stein (which is absolutely delicious!!!
... and the most gorgeous Banyan trees I've ever seen! These were thought to be over 2,000 years old! Can't find that in Cali!
She lead us through a small village where we met these adorable kiddos, who were more than willing to have their picture taken! It was a nice change from the Korean kiddos, who shy away when a camera is around!
As we were walking, I saw a woman, walking ahead of us, with this huge basket on her head, and asked the lady who was guiding us, if I could try carrying it on my head! She laughed, and asked, "Really?!" Before I knew it, she had yelled for the woman and asked her if I could try!
It was WAY harder than I would have thought, and I could barely balance it enough to let go! Looks like I've got some practicing to do!
When she put the basket down, we saw that she was carrying huge chips made from local vegetables, rice, and __________ (I can't remember... I'll fill this in later!) So, we bought some!
and I walked over and gave them to the neighborhood kids! They apparently are BIG fans, because they were sooo excited when I handed them to them!
More local kids on the road.
We got into the main village and she called 2 of her friends to take us back to the Sayan Hotel so we could get our scooter.
They were VERY nice and stopped here so we could take a picture of the volcano in the background, which we are going to be riding the scooter to this afternoon! Aaron, Mr. Mountain Boy is ready for some hiking!
The rest of the day was spent relaxing, eating, walking, and riding the scooter! :) We are huge fans of this area, and are gonna stay at least one more day!!
Time for our Volcano adventure!!!
DAY 10
VOLCANO, SCOOTER, AND TEMPLE!
DAY 10 was filled with scooter riding, gorgeous views, and uncomfortable, but funny memories!
We started the day with banana pancakes with coconut on my balcony at the place we're staying, some blogging, and then hopped on the scooter and headed for Mt. Agung (an active volcano).
We had a map, but weren't too sure we were going the right way, so we ended up stopping about 15 times to ask where the next town was that we were headed for. (Total adventure was over 100 kilometers.)
Sometimes we were told things like, "Turn right at the statue!" I wish we had more round-a-bouts with beautiful statues in America!
After riding for a while, we decided to stop here, between Gianyar and Sideman to get some lunch amidst the sea of rice paddies. When we walked up to the counter, the lady asked "Two?" and we said, "Yes" and then were motioned to find a seat. We had no idea what we were about to eat!
... and then this came!
We weren't sure what the meat was, or what the balls were in the soup, so after eating it, we decided to ask. I scooped one of them in my spoon and asked the young girl, "Excuse me, What is this?" I received a very confused look, so I quickly asked, "Pig, oink, oink?!" hoping that she would understand... and in PERFECT English, she responded, "Yes!" Aaron laughed at me and said, "She knows English Jillers. You should talk to people normally first, and then if they don't understand, say the animal noises." I felt kind of dumb and totally agreed, and we laughed about how she probably knows perfect English. But then, about 3 minutes later, she brought us another whole bowl of the soup and we realized she apparently didn't know any English at all! Feeling bad about wasting the soup (since it was kind of gross), I poured it into the grass when she wasn't looking. That's the great part about eating outside! :)
After lunch, we got back on the scooter and rode through the towns, until we reached the most beautiful stretch of land I've maybe ever seen! We had to get off the scooter and take a picture! (When you have to set your camera on random poles in the ground, you don't always capture the full surroundings! This is all we could get!)
You would think that there would be a highway leading to a mountain, but nope... we rode, almost 3/4 of the way through neighborhoods like this one! Everyone was so friendly and would wave and smile as we passed.
This family was hanging their laundry on a huge piece of bamboo! I love the resourcefulness around here!
We saw a lot of craftsmen along the way, working at their roadside shops. This man was hand painting this small temple.
These guys were chipping at volcanic rock to create gorgeous figures and statues of Hindi gods.
We're not sure what this was, but it looked like it was the remnants of a HUGE temple party!
The road was beautiful, the ENTIRE WAY up the mountain!
... and was REALLY, REALLY steep most of the way up!
This was probably one of the more funny experiences of my entire life. When we got almost all the way up the mountain, we saw an old man, sitting in a roadside stand who got up to greet us as we got near. He motioned for us to park the scooter, so we did. We weren't sure why, but we did it. I got off first and followed him over to this statue. He motioned for me to take off my helmet and pick up a flower, so I did, trying not to laugh! Then, he motioned for me to fold my hands and bow about 20 times. Aaron, of course, being Mr. Photographer, was busy taking pics... but the man wasn't having it. He made Aaron come over and do the same thing. So, there we were, the two of us, holding flowers in our hands, and bowing to this statue, trying soooo hard not to laugh at what was happening! But then, the best part came! The old man took a cup of dirty water and dipped a paintbrush looking thing into it, and splashed a ton of water into my face! At this point, I almost lost it! Then, Aaron was next! Then, he splashes the dirty water into our hands and motioned for us to drink it! ehhhh!!!! I heard Aaron making a noise like he was drinking it, so I went ahead and drank it too. (Come to find out later, he just made the sound) I'm not sick this morning, so I think I should be fine!
When the whole ritual was finished, he allowed us to get back on our scooter and head up the mountain, but not before giving him some money first! hahaha
When we got to the end of the road, we saw a temple on the mountain. Aaron said he had read about the temple, and knew that it was the most sacred temple in all of Bali... so, we got off the scooter and decided to check it out. We were quickly stopped by this man, who told us we needed to put a sarong on first!
Then, we started the climb! 335 stairs in all! (Yep, I counted!)
.... and then we reached this! Notice, we are in the clouds! We were soooooo high on the mountain!
There was a man worshiping there who offered to take our picture!
After spending some time looking around the temple, we headed back down the mountain. We saw this beautiful area of bamboo and decided to see where the path lead.
Unfortunately it lead to a barking dog who wasn't happy we were there, so we turned around and headed back to the road!
The views on the drive were so gorgeous! These pictures just can't do them justice!
We heard this ice cream man behind us, with his Indonesian ice cream truck music blaring from his scooter, and we flagged him to stop! When will I ever again get ice cream from a man on a scooter!? We had to take advantage of the moment.
While Aaron was waiting for the man to scoop his ice cream, I walked towards the field workers who motioned for me to come over closer. I was so excited, hoping I could help them harvest whatever they were harvesting for a couple minutes... Unfortunately, they only motioned for me to come over so they could ask for money, which seems to be a common thing around these parts! The kids seem to know about 4 phrases: Hello, Bye bye, What's your name?, and money.
As excited as we were about the idea of ice cream, it unfortunately wasn't very yummy. In fact, half of the cup was filled with this tapioca juice mixture. I pretended like mine fell into the dirt! Oops (wink, wink) :)
The views in this area were absolutely spectacular.
On our drive back, we spotted this elephant on the side of the road with a dear on it's head. Aaron is such a great travel companion, because he's always up for stopping to take a picture for me! :)
7 hours later, we were back in Ubud with sore butts from being on the scooter almost the whole time! We walked for a little while and found this restaurant that had a whole page of Mexican food on their menu!!!!! I'm never a fan of eating food, other than the native food to the area, when traveling in Asia, but we don't have Mexican food in Korea, so we had to stop!
Then, desert was 2 chocolate chip cookies at this charming cafe down the road!
We took a long walk home, past the monkey forest (which was a bit terrifying), and made it back safely to the place, exhausted from our adventurous day!
Today we're going to try to find a hidden waterfall. Not sure if we'll be able to find it, but we're sure gonna try! Wish us luck!
DAY 11
WATERFALL, WATER PALACE, AND KITE FLYING
We started the day by checking out a waterfall that Aaron found a picture of online! After asking about 10 people for directions along the way, we finally arrived, and it was DEFINITELY worth it! We paid .50 cents to enter the area, grabbed some snacks at the small stand at the top of th mountain and then began the 171 stair decent down to the river where the waterfall fell into.
It was a bit of a task to get close to the waterfall. There were lots of slippery rocks, deep and shallow water, and mud to get through before getting there... but once again, it was WORTH it!
Oh, and I guess I should mention that for the first 45 minutes or so, we were the only people there! AMAZING huh?!
Next to the waterfall, there were tall cliffs with cool spring water coming from bamboo holes into the river. The landscape here is like nothing I've ever seen! It's almost magical!
After the waterfall, we took the scooter to the famous Puri Saren Agung (Royal Palace, Water Palace) It's only about 150 feet from the place we were both staying at. This was the palace of the kings of Ubud until the 1940s and some royal descendants still live there to this day. These are the doors leading to the palace.
And this is inside the palace. There were a bunch of rules about what you had to wear to enter (and if you were "menstruating," you WERE NOT ALLOWED! I snapped this picture from the left door, which happened to be open (lucky for us!) This was, hands down, the most beautiful Palace Temple I've seen yet.
Most of the statues of Hindu gods are wrapped in this black and white checkered cloth. I'm not sure the significance... I'll try to ask someone before I leave.
These young Balinese boys were fishing in the small pond in front of the water palace. Believe it or not, under the masses of Lotus flower lily pads, there were lots of fish!
When we had seen every nook and cranny of the beauties of the water palace, we headed over to the Art Market to buy a kite to fly over the rice paddies! This handmade, hand painted, one of a kind Balinese kite was only $6.00! It came with a ball of string, which Aaron kindly wrapped around a water bottle so we could actually fly it! Don't be fooled by the bored look on his face... he was definitely as excited about kite flying as I was!
We decided to ride the scooter through the small towns and rice fields on the outskirts of Ubud, and try to fly the kite behind us, but there was ABSOLUTELY no wind, so it basically either flew in wide circles between the air and the ground, or just drug behind us while we, and the locals all laughed! It may not have flown, but it made for a really funny experience!
Aaron was trying to compensate for the fact that he's holding a butterfly kite!
After flying the kite, we stopped by the monkey forest once more to say goodbye to our monkey friends... The only food we had were rasberry mentos, so we bit them in half and would give one 1/2 to 1 monkey and the other 1/2 to another. Believe it or not, they LOVED them! Go figure, huh?!
The sun was going down and we were starving, so we stopped in at this charming restaurant on Monkey Forest road and had a drink and the most delicious food, all for about $5.00!
It was definitely an adventure packed day with lots of laughter and beauty!
DAY 12
ISLAND PARADISE
DAY 12 was what we'd been waiting for for a long time: blue skies, lots of sun, beautiful sand and crystal clear water! It's what Bali is all about right?!
We took a small boat over to Nusa Lembongan Island in the morning (south of Bali), arrived around 11am and checked into a darling bungalow style hotel called Bungalow No. 7 on the water! My room is the one closest to the ocean... It's about 25 feet from the water!
We dropped our bags in our bungalows and grabbed some lunch at the on-site restaurant.
Then, after our belly's were full, we jumped on our scooter and rode around the island, stopping at lots of different places, like this one, where the water shot up from under these rocks!
Then we found Mushroom Beach! It was exactly what we'd been waiting for and dreaming about! Yes, that's me, laying in the SHADE! The sun was sooo hot, I couldn't help it!
Since I couldn't bare laying in the sun, Aaron taught me how to float on my back in the water... It was perfect, because I could get tan, and be in the water all at the same time!! :)
After going to the beach, we jumped back on the scooter and continued our quest around the island! We saw a sign for "Underground house" and intrigued, we turned the bike around and headed for it!
The house was built underground using only a hammer, chisel and intuition as guidance. It took 15 years to complete this incredible labyrinth, which includes a bedroom, dining room, kitchen, bathroom and sacred meditation room.
This was our tour guide, through the caves... He definitely grabbed me in the dark a couple times... not sure if it was on purpose or not. I'd like to think it wasn't, but I'll chalk it up to the experience!
We decided to head over to a smaller island called Ceningan Island, which you can reach by a very narrow yellow wood slatted bridge! As we entered the Island, we saw these guys playing volleyball and waved hello. They motioned for us to come over and play, so we stayed here for a while, playing a little game of bump the ball with them!
Then we jumped back on the scooter and headed south. We came to a REALLY steep hill, and as we were going up, there were a bunch of high school aged kids on scooters coming down. So that we didn't crash, Aaron pulled over to the side of the road... but because the hill was so steep, every time he would hit the gas, we would go backwards, down the hill! Luckily, there were two young guys behind us who got off their scooter and gave us a little push... and the rest is history!
That is how we met these two! Nyoman (19) and Kadek (17), two boys, native to Ceningan Island! Their families are both seaweed farmers... They wanted to practice their english, so they offered to show us around the island.
First, they took us here to the Blue Lagoon, which was perfectly named! It was some of the bluest water I've seen to date!
Aaron and I standing on the cliff at the Blue Lagoon.
Then, they asked us if we wanted to see a beautiful view, which of course we did! so, we headed up the Tsunami trail to the top of the hill on the island, where we could see all of Bali and Lmebongan Island. We hung out here as the sun was setting and talked about living in Indonesia, religion, family, etc...
We all rode the scooters down the hill and stopped here at Kopi Break Cafe for some dinner. This is the ONLY restaurant on the island and it happened to be owned by one of Nyoman's friends... which isn't surprising, considering there are only 300 people living here!
We hung out here for a while with all the locals! :)
When we got back to Bungalow No 7, we grabbed our towels and headed for the beach in front of the hotel to watch the end of the sunset and the lightning storm in the far off distance! It was beautiful!!
We have a date with Nyoman and Kadek today to jump of the yellow bridge connecting the 2 islands! I've never jumped off a bridge! Nyoman said he would jump with me and hold my hand while we jumped... so look out for my next blog! You just might see me jumping off a bridge! (Don't worry mom, it's only about 12 feet from the water!)
DAY 13
BRIDGE JUMPING, SNORKELING, AND COCK FIGHT...
DAY 13 started with delicious french toast at our on-site restaurant, overlooking the water... Then, we hoped on the scooter, bought 1/2 of a watermelon for a dollar, and headed over to the bridge to meet Nyoman and Kadek. First, we stopped for me to pick up another sarong! I love these things, and would live in them if I ever moved here!
This was the view the store employees got to enjoy everyday! Can you imagine?!
We rode over the bridge and met Nyoman and Kadek, who were waiting with some friends on the beach! They asked "Are you ready to jump?" and the rest was history! Nyoman and I went first. As you can see, I was feeling a mix of pure fear and excitement!
Then, the boys all counted and wala... I jumped! It felt like it took forever to reach the crystal clear water! What a rush! And as promised, Nyoman held me hand the whole way!
Then it was Aaron and Kadek's turn! They were more brave than me and jumped from the top of the rail!
Everyone did it!
After jumping, we rented some snorkeling gear, found a guy to charter a boat for us for $10.00 and waited here in this seaweed farm for him to bring the boat over. The main source of income on this island (yes, more than tourism) is seaweed. They sell it to Japan, where it is turned into make-up! Each of these areas of seaweed is about $24.00 for them.
Ready for some ocean snorkeling on the reef!
This was the water we snorkeled in. At points, we were in 30 plus feet of water and could see perfectly, all the way down to the bottom!
Aaron, ready to go! We played games in the water, ie: Find the Starfish, where whoever found the 1st giant blue starfish would win! I won! :) We saw fish I've only ever seen in huge salt water fish tanks (but obviously much bigger) and fish I never knew ever existed, and corals of every possible shape and size! It was incredible! The current was sooo strong that we ended up, sometimes at least 300 feet away from our anchored boat, which was pretty scary. I made Aaron hold my hand almost the whole time, because I didn't want to get separated way out there! Being the nice guy that he is, he obliged! Notice how far out we are! We were definitely out in the ocean!
When we got back from snorkeling, we talked with Ahleet, the 20 year old local bartender at our place, who told us about the Cock Fighting on Ceningan Island. He said the whole town comes out to watch, so we knew we needed to experience it!
When we arrived, we were welcomed by everyone, and handed chickens to hold! It was really awesome!
This is what they do to prepare the cocks for fighting! They put them in front of each other, and bounce them up and down until they become angry.
Nyoman and Kadek were there, so we hung out with them, and asked them lots of questions about what was going on.
Everyone brings their cocks in bags, like these!
They look like little purses to me! I have no idea how they squish them into these little things...
Once the biggest and strongest are chosen, this knife is a attached to their talons.
Nyoman and his grandfather, who was sitting off to the side... Obviously not there to watch, but rather only to gamble. When I asked Nyoman how old he was, he said he had no idea... but his brother, who was standing nearby said he was 120 years old. Not too sure he was quite that old, but he was definitely old!
After the cocks have the knife attached, and the betting had taken place, the fight begins. There were 3 last night. The 1st one lasted about 5 minutes, and the last 2 were VERY quick.
The cock who is considered about to die, is taken to this man where it's head it smooshed by his foot, and he pounds it's body with his fist in order to assist in a quicker death... Then he takes the knife off of it's talon. It was a fairly gruesome experience, but it's their culture... and if I want to experience a day in the life of the locals, than these are the things I need to see. Nyoman said the cock fights are every night!
This was the sunset, happening behind us!!!
After the fight, Nyoman invited us back to his house, which was about 100 feet down the road. He gave us the grand tour, and I think we were both shocked to see how poor they are here. This is the entrance to the temple outside his home where he, along with his family worship 2 times a day (6am and 8pm - EVERYDAY!)
This is the well where Nyoman scoops water from...
... then he pours it into the square hole in the wall, which then pours into a small pool in the bathroom. He uses the black scooper to pour the water over his body in order to shower. Oh, and I think it's worth mentioning that it's SALT WATER, straight from the ocean.
There's another well on the opposite side that collects rain from rain gutters, which is then used for their drinking water (filtered only by a small net at the end of the rain gutter).
As we were walking through his makeshift garden, he pointed up into the tree and said "This is where the chickens sleep." haha! I had no idea chickens slept in trees in the wild!
We rode the scooter back in the dark, which was really scary, but we made it safely back to Bungalow No 7! We ate dinner, by candlelight and moonlight, and talked for a while at our table, overlooking the water! It's definitely magical here, and since meeting Nyoman and Kadek, it's becoming a little more like we're part of the community! It's going to be hard to eventually leave. This is quickly becoming my Railay, Thailand part 2!
DAY 14
EAT, READ, RAIN!
DAY 14 was one of the most relaxing days we've had yet on our trip, but also one of the most adventurous!
We started the day off with breakfast together on the beach. Then, I grabbed my book and indulged in some reading...
...while Aaron indulged in some sun on the beach below me!
I asked Ahleet, the bartender at our place, where I could get a massage and he walked me over to this woman, down the beach about 100 feet. I enjoyed an incredible Balinese style massage while listening to the waves crash behind me, the roosters crowing, and the locals chatting on the benches behind me. She used so much oil that when I left, I looked like one of those gross body builders at their competition (minus the GIGANTIC muscles!) It was a great experience!
The girls who work at my hotel were all sitting near the reception desk making these beautiful flowers and baskets out of Coconut Tree palm frawns. I sat for a while, with them, watching the intricacies of this art. They said they make them 2 times a month for God. Once at full moon and once at "dead moon."
When we got hungry for lunch, we jumped on the scooter and headed down our favorite road....
Yes, these are the views we can enjoy while riding around the island. My hotel is down there where all the red roofs are.
We stopped at Mushroom beach, where we had lunch overlooking the water!
After lunch, we headed over to Ceningan Island to pay Nyoman's sister back for some snacks we bought last night before the cock fight and ran into Nyoman and Kadek, who were sitting outside of her store. Nyoman caught this baby chick for me to hold! What a little smooch, huh?!
We hung out with the guys for a while and went to some places we hadn't checked out yet.
They said this is a blow hole, but the waves weren't big enough to come up through it that day. Aaron was braver than me and went down into it.
Minutes later it started pouring down rain! This was the 1st rain we had had in days and were refreshed by it's coolness! The guys wanted to keep showing us stuff, so we followed them on our scooters, through muddy and very slippery jungle roads, to some of the most beautiful viewpoints I've seen to date! Since it was pouring rain, I couldn't take any pictures... They'll have to stay in my memory, and you'll just have to do your best to imagine them. :)
Remember that beautiful turquoise sarong I bought yesterday?! Well, turns out, when it gets wet, it bleeds green! Yep, this is me... The green monster! I had to scrub and scrub and scrub to get it all off! Today, it's folded up in my hotel room... :)
We had dinner on the beach and read on comfy lounge chairs in the courtyard of our place until all of the hotel employees had left to go to sleep! We love this place and hate having to end our days!
Not sure what we're going to do today, but I only have 19 pages left of my book, which I love (Thank you Cassie for sending it to me!)... so I think after breakfast, I'll finish that off, and then we'll be on yet another adventure around the island!
DAY 15
SWIMMING, EATING, AND VOMITING! :(
DAY 15 started of beautifully with blue skies, sun, and lots of happy Balinese locals.
Please forgive me... I've been sick all night, and am still feeling nautious, so I'm just going to gently skim over what we did and saw...
This is Ahleet, the bartender at our hotel.
We swam for most of the day at Mushroom beach and Aaron taught me how to do flips and handstands in the water!
We hiked up to this temple at the top of the hill on the island... (By law, Indonesian cities have to erect 3 temples per city.)
... and jumped down!
This is the volcano we rode the scooter up to when we were staying in Ubud. It's extremely rare to be able to see the top without any clouds! (Sorry it's sideways)
When we got back to the hotel, we grabbed our books and headed for the comfy chairs in the courtyard. I overheard a guy say he was from the US while talking with the scuba instuctors at the dive center next door and I started up a conversation with him to see where exactly he was from. This is Dan! He's 25 and is from DC and was working as a researcher for a law firm before he decided to travel for 9 months, all over Asia, staying a month in each country! (again, sorry it's sideways... not sure what's going on with this program.)
We ended up having dinner with Dan at our place and had a great time talking about life and traveling with him...
More to come later...I was up all night with food poisoning from the sandwich I had at dinner and am still not feeling well.
DAY 16
SLEEPING
Day 16 was spent feeling nautious and sleeping from my food poisoning! Luckily I had Dr. Aaron to keep me company and take care of me. He was a great doctor and sat by me all day, reading, so I wouldn't be lonely when I woke up! :) We saw Dan later, around 7pm, and he gave me some medicine for food poisoning, and it worked like a charm! I was able to sleep through the whole night. :)
Today (Day 17) I'm feeling almost 100% and am ready to get back out and enjoy the last couple days of my vacation! We were planning to leave Nusa Lembongan yesterday morning, to see Nusa Dua, but since I was sick, the thought of getting on a boat wasn't too appealing, so we stayed. Now, since we only have 2 days left, we've decided to stay here on the island! Besides, I think we've found the hidden treasure of Indonesia... So why leave, right?!
DAY 17
NEW FRIENDS
I woke up feeling 90% better, and after getting some plain toast and a couple pieces of fresh Balinese fruit, I was up to 100%! So, Aaron and I rented a scooter again and drove over to Dream Beach, but not before Aaron loaded my hair with these flowers that grow in the courtyard of our hotel. He always slips one in my ear in the morning, but today, he went a little crazy!
Tomorrow morning, we're getting up bright and early to go to Gili Meno (The Gili Islands). It's so small you can literally walk around it in an hour! We're leaving at 6am and are arriving at 4pm. 2 busses and 2 boats! We can't wait to get there and lounge! Not sure if we'll have internet, and not too sure how long we'll stay... So check back day to day! I may have an update tomorrow, or next week! Until next time.... Tah tah!
DAY 3
IM ON A BOAT
I'm on a bus... I'm on a boat... I'm in a van... I'm on another boat... 13 hours later - I'm on an Island!!!
Day 3 was definitely a TRAVELING day! We had no idea it would take us so long to get to Gili Meno Island.... but we made quite a few memories along the journey. I'll bullet point them for you, so you don't spend all day reading the details... I know some of you need to get back to work!! :)
* Got picked up by a driver at 6:00am
* Drove an hour to a pier.
* Saw a lot of temples along the road.
* Noticed quite a few offering basket made of bamboo propped up near the entrance to stores and homes.
* Finally arrived at the pier. (2 hours before the 9:00am ferry was scheduled to depart... This is all part of the tour agencies plan. They told us to get off the bus and order breakfast at a certain cafe. We had fallen into their little trap, but whatever!)
* The 9:00am Ferry Boat was to capacity, so we sat here and waited for the 10:00am. We were continuously haggled by locals trying to sell sunglasses, fruit, snacks, etc... Funny thing is that the same guys selling sunglasses would come by over and over and over again asking if we wanted to buy some!
* I spotted these adorable little girls selling fruit and snacks by the port.
* There are wild chickens EVERYWHERE on this Island!
*And puppies too! The owner of this shop tried to sell this one to me for 20,000 Rupiahs, which is about $2.50! Anyone want an Indonesian puppy?!
* The women in Indonesia can all do this! They carry huge things on their heads! I saw one woman carrying about 50 lbs of wood! Amazing!!
* Aaron and I decided we should buy some food for the ferry... So, we bought some from this lady. It was 20,000 Rupiahs, and we had 18,000, so we haggled with her. I offered one of my razors to cover the extra cost and she obliged! :)
* This was the spicy chicken and rice we bought from her. 
* The weather has not been so great since we arrived. Usually it's either raining, cloudy, or SUPER windy... which made our 5 hour ferry ride a bit of an adventure! Not to mention, it literally moved 2 miles an hour across the ocean... Picture the ferry in Balboa going cross the ocean! There were so many sea sick people! We were happy when we finally reached land!
* The weather has not been so great since we arrived. Usually it's either raining, cloudy, or SUPER windy... which made our 5 hour ferry ride a bit of an adventure! Not to mention, it literally moved 2 miles an hour across the ocean... Picture the ferry in Balboa going cross the ocean! There were so many sea sick people! We were happy when we finally reached land!
* When we finally got to the pier in Lombok, we had to wait about 30 minutes for the boat driver to line up the car ramp! It was actually very comical. Definitely wasn't the most efficient Ferry docking I've seen.
* Once we arrived in Lombok, we jumped in another van and drove about an hour to another pier with some other people.
* Our van driver was an old Indonesian man with about 3 teeth! I was sitting in the front seat next to him and he was enthralled with anything I did. If I took a picture, he wanted to see it. IF I ate something, he wanted to watch me eat it. When I took my ipod out and started to listen to music with Aaron, he quickly reached for the play button on his Van CD player and cranked up the volume!! We listened to American songs set to trance music. He would tap his fingers to the music and would honk his horn with the beat. It was hilarious!
* The scenery was really beautiful, and the towns we drove through were filled with character!
* Have you ever seen such green mountains. There were filled with foliage: grass, trees, palm trees, etc! This picture DOES NOT do it justice!
* Saw tons of monkeys on the side of the road!
* Played a game with Aaron called stray dog. Whoever spotted 10 stray dogs first won! We played it 3 times! That should give you an idea of how many there were! (And those were just the ones that happened to be walking near the road!)
* We finally arrived at the pier where we would jump on the boat to Gili Meno Island... Although when we got there, this was what we saw... YES, our boat had sunk!
* So, we all piled back into the van and drove through the jungle to a makeshift pier where we were finally able to jump on a boat.
* So, we all piled back into the van and drove through the jungle to a makeshift pier where we were finally able to jump on a boat.
* As you can see, it was almost night time. We waited on the boat for quite a while, hoping the waters would calm down. Finally, as the sun was fading into the sea, and the moon was shining through the clouds, we were off on our boat ride! I'll be honest... It was terrifying! We were going through 6 foot swells, rocking back and forth and up and down! I had my head buried into Aaron's shoulder almost the whole time. The Indonesian local sitting next to me said, "Memories for you!" haha...
* We finally arrived, but it was not at the Island we had planned to go to. We stopped at Gili Air and were told that the waves we too big to take us to Gili Meno and that we would have to catch a boat the next day! You really have to be laid back around here! You never know what's gonna happen. So, we arrived in the dark and walked, in the dark, till we found a place to stay! I'm happy to report, we did!!! We both stayed at Salabose Cottages... Bungalows right on the beach!
DAY 4
I'M ON AN ISLAND
Last night was an adventure, for SURE! The Gili Islands are known for power outages, and we had one! While we were eating dinner, the power went off on the ENTIRE island and it was pitch black! I was dying to take a shower, so I showered in the dark, with freezing cold water! Gotta love traveling!
I have to include this picture of the bathroom in my bungalow! Have you ever seen such a huge shower?! It's too bad they didn't put a sink in that huge area! Oh, and the water you shower with here is all salt water! :)
It rained all night last night, with loud clangs of thunder and lightning every couple minutes! Believe it or not, my bungalow was completely water resistant! :) Pretty cool looking, huh?!
It rained most of the morning too... :( But we were both so happy to be on vacation that we didn't really care!
We took a little walk on the sand during low tide to look for shells in between the rain storms. I've definitely found my match when it comes to shell searching! Aaron is quite the pro!
Check out this gigantic crab we found!
I've never, in my entire life (that I can remember), held a live starfish!
It started to rain again, so we thought we'd eat some breakfast... When we ordered at the restaurant by my place, the guy said "Ok, I smoke (marijuana) 1st, then I cook. Okay?" haha! Gotta love the honesty. Apparently it's completely fine to smoke on these islands...
We decided we'd walk a little further and ended up ducking into this little pagoda and ordered some breakfast! 1 banana pancake and some fruit please!
Aaron ordered some eggs, and this lady, who was taking our order was smiling and said, "Eggs. Oh, I don't know that!" She was definitely high from smoking marijuana!
There was no electricty the entire morning, and since their water is pumped through pipes which need elecricty, there was no water either! So, I brushed my teeth outside on my porch with my water bottle!
At 3:00pm, we caught the boat to Gili Meno! (Just barely too! We had to run!)
We had no idea where to stay when we arrived, so we jumped on this pony drawn carriage and rode until we found a place!
Our driver recommened Sunset Gecko, so we let him lead us there! I like to think we are 2 of the luckiest people alive, because the beachfront "Honeymoon Suite" was available and it had 2 rooms and overlooked the beach, all for the measley price of $37.00 a night! Um, YES PLEASE! Split between the 2 of us, that's 18.50 night!
Here's my room!
The view from my staircase!
Our bathroom/shower is outside! Pretty awesome huh?! I took a shower before dinner and then Aaron took one after me. The water ran out before he was finished! haha. They only have a small supply of fresh water at this hotel. We're hoping we can get some more tomorrow!
Ahh, reminds me of Korea...
This place is extremely eco friendly! So much so that I had to wash my hair with a bar of all natural soap!
We took a walk down the beach and found all these sand dollars! 
Sunset from my balcony!
There are lots of baby kitties around here!
We had dinner at our place with the 4 other people who are staying there. This island is pretty secluded and small. It only takes about 2 hours to walk around the entire thing. There's really nothing to do, so most people don't come here... but we love it! From left to right: Aaron, Baola and Max (Barcelona, Spain), Michelle, and Luis (Frankfurt, Germany). We had a great dinner and an awesome time meeting and talking about life and traveling!
We definitely love Gili Meno!
DAY 5
SNORKELING AND RELAXING
Woke up at 6:30am, thanks to Aaron, who came to my door and said "Let's go for a walk!" So, we walked into town to get some breakfast! (35 min walk) along this pathway, just in from the shoreline! It wraps around the entire Island. You can actually walk it in 2 hours! That's how small this place is!
We stopped a couple times to do things like catch baby chickens while this lady fed them...
... admire the wild purple bouganvilla...
... and the other beautiful flowers, native to the island!
Breakfast was banana pancakes, with Knotts Berry Farm honey, overlooking the ocean! How cool is that?!
After eating banana pancakes on the beach, we walked over to the internet place. There are only 2 on the entire island, and one was closed because the owner went to Lombok, and the other internet place was down. So sad... This was what happened everytime I went into town for the next 3 days! Which is why you're reading this so late in the trip.
Instead of walking along the shoreline, we decided to walk through the middle of the island, since that's where the natives all live! There were palm trees everywhere and thousands of mosquitos to go along with them! We had bites all over our bodies! Lesson learned... don't walk through the middle of the island, near the lake!
When we finally got back to the bungalow, we relaxed and did some reading in the hammocks. That's when we met Tongues (our favorite cat on the island). Tongues is like a lap dog! He follows us everywhere and always wants to be where we are! We named him Tongues, because when we would pet him, he would purr and kneed, and his tongue would always be hanging out just a little!
When the sky started to clear a little, we met up with Max and Baola and did some snorkeling! We really wanted to see the turtles, but the waves were huge, and trying to walk with flippers in the ocean was interesting!
While we didn't see any turtles, we did find the most incredible blue starfish! It was huge... about the size of an over-sized dinner plate, and was bright royal blue, like the picture below! I'd never seen anything like it before.
We would have loved to have been able to take showers after being in the ocean, but there was no water! I took this picture later in the week when I saw the water being delivered! Yep, this is the amount of water supply this place had! Talk about needing to conserve, huh?!
We had lunch with Max and Baola on the beach and while we were eating, we noticed that the water bottles here all say to "keep away from smelly goods!" hmmmm...
This was the mama cat at the place were were staying! She was really mean and would usually kick her babies in the head when they were trying to eat! We had to feed her and keep her occupied so her little one could jump under her to get some milk!
We ordered dinner and ended up taking it up to my place, because the mosquitoes were in full effect! so, we sat under the mosquito net, and relaxed with our yummy food!
As you can see, there's not much to do here! We love it! This is what a vacation is all about!
DAY 6
SHELL SEARCHING!
We both woke up around 8:30am and ordered breakfast at our place! I'll bet you can guess what we ate! Yep, banana pancakes! :)
We put on our bathing suits and decided to take a walk around the island! We walked about 45 minutes and the water was calling our names, so we jumped in and swam for an hour or so here! There were only 2 other people in the water, and they were at least 200 feet away! This place is basically a deserted island!
Aaron and I revert back to our childhood, fairly often, when we're together. Case in point, we played a game called "Pick it up with your toe" that we made up! We would create a category, ie: the biggest piece of coral, and we would each try to pick it up with our toes in the water. The best one would win!
When we had had enough swimming, we decided to keep walking... This is when the shell searching began! We found some of the most amazing shells laying in these mounds of coral on the shoreline.
We're so proud of them, we took plenty of pictures for you to see! You can't find these in Huntington!
This was our first find of the day! (I found this one!)
I found this one too!
Aaron found this one! He said it's his favorite.
He found this one too! This one is my favorite!
As we were walking around the island, a storm started brewing over the water, so, we knew it was time to kick it into high gear and get back to our place! We had cameras to protect!
When we got back, it was pouring! We have definitely come during rainy season! We were peaking out the wooden slatted shutters in my room at some people who were showering out in the rain, and were thinking, "They're crazy!" But, then we thought, no, we're crazy! We have sea water all over us! Let's take showers in the rain! So, we went out, with our bathing suits on, and showered in the rain! It was one of the coolest things I've ever done!
After the rain settled, I layed in the hammock and read for a while...
... then decided to walk into town to see if the internet was working! Unfortunately, it wasn't up and running, but I was able to get some great pictures of some locals!
For such a small island, with such little resources, we were shocked at their expansive menus! Where the heck does all this food come from!?
We decided to have dinner at Good Heart Bungalow; the hotel next to ours. The food was awesome! It was a great ending to an awesome relaxing day on the island!
DAY 7
I'M ON A BOAT... AGAIN!
We thought day 4 was a traveling day... Well, we had no idea!! Day 7 was 18 hours of traveling! You'd think we were going back to the US!
Luckily, we were still able to enjoy ourselves! Here are some pictures from the van and the boat! ENJOY:
When we were leaving Gili Meno, we jumped onto a small boat, holding way too many people, and got stuck in the sand!! The locals, along with some of the tourist, pushed and pulled ropes and anchors until we finally were freed of the sand! This was a 30 minutes ordeal!
When we arrived on land, we took this horse drawn carriage to the parking lot down the road to catch our van!
I noticed our van even had an offering, hanging tightly to it's windshield!
While we were waiting to leave, we met this guy, name Full. We talked for a long time with him about life in Bali. He is a high school graduate, and would love to go back to school, but he doesn't have the money to do it. He sells these necklaces near the port, and makes the equivalent of about $3.00 a day, on a good day. I think this is probably the case for most young Indonesian men. We asked him what he would recomend we see in Bali, and he said he had never been to Bali. (Take out a map and look. Lombok to Bali is REALLY close!) At this moment, I realized just how fortunate I really am.
Before we knew it, we were making the treck back in Bali in the first van of the day! The outskirts of Lombok is gorgeous! It's lush, with palm trees and rice fields everywhere!
I fell in love with this river! I saw it on the way to Gili Meno, and had to take a picture! What I would give to live near something this beautiful!
As we were driving through the town, I noticed this lady, walking up to the cars and scooters, asking for money for the building of the mosque nearby! Sounds like a good way to do a building project, huh?! Unfortunately, this would never work in America!
Driving through town...
... and back into the forest!
Finally, we made it to our Ferry! This one was different than our first one... a bit smaller, and a little cleaner. We quickly settled here, at a small table and chairs near the ledge.
Our boat actually had a mosque on it!
I have to include this picture, because I have to take a moment to show the extremely long finger nails of the Balinese men! We saw this guy on our boat, selling food. Whenever I ask them why they're so long, they always tell me different stories, like: "Growing them out is my hobby" and "I do it to play guitar." I overheard another foreigner saying that they grow them out to show that they don't work in the fields! Either way, it's DISGUSTING! I think Aaron is trying to do it too, because his nails are getting pretty long! I am encouraging it though, because it makes back scratches sooo much better! My skin is so darn itchy from being burnt! (sorry mom... One day without sunscreen! I've learned my lesson!)
While this ferry did probably go a little bit faster, we ended up waiting in the ocean for 2 1/2 hours, in one spot, for our turn to enter the port! On the positive side, we got to watch the sunset over the water! On the not so positive side, it ended up being a 9 hour boat ride!
... luckily they had a little snack bar with Tim Tams to fill out tummies! Unfortunately, 2 Tim Tams is 497 calories though! That will be the last time I send Aaron to the snack bar to pick out something!
When we got off the Ferry, we were met by a Balinese man who loaded us and another couple into his air conditioned SUV (so nice!) and drove us to Ubud. He was a crazy driver, so I closed my eyes and tried to sleep! This was the first time I ever put my seat belt on!
We arrived around 11:00pm, and were really lucky to find a great place to stay at such a late hour! It's actually a guest house of sorts, and it sits right near a river. There are 2 rooms, which is perfect, and an adorable yellow retriever to keep us company!
More pictures and blogs to come! It's time to go explore Ubud!
DAY 8
UBUD IS WONDERFUL!
We are staying at a beautiful home, called Anggada in the heart of Ubud. It's about 200 feet from the famous art market, and I'm only paying $6.00, oh and breakfast is included! What a deal huh?
Free breakfast brought to your room!
This is their security dog... Not sure how much security he would be able to do, other than lick and wag his tail! :)
The homes here are really interesting. You walk through a front entrance, like this one...
Then, when you walk inside, there are lots of different rooms, leading out to a courtyard... Some of the rooms are actually outside, with beds. It's really cool. Here are some pictures from within our little compound.
This is the view from my balcony, looking to a restaurant on the main road. The black on either side is forest, and down below is a river! It's pretty awesome!
I did some blogging in the morning and then met up with Aaron and had lunch here, at Balina Lagoon, a small restaurant near the place we're staying.
There were sooo many choices, and all of there were so cheap! About 9,000 Balinese Rupiah = $1.00
mmmmm!!!!
After lunch, we decided to rent a scooter, so we could ride around and check out the town! It was $5.00 a day and came with full tank of gas! Aaron was more brave and decided we could share one!
We rode down the main road as students were getting out of school. Here are some girls... notice the uniform is all white, and they have to wear their hair in 2 braids.
Here's the boys school! Gorgeous huh?!
We read in the lonely planet book that the Sacred Monkey Forest was a definite must see when coming to Ubud, so we rode the scooter over to check it out!
There were literally hundreds of monkeys. They were everywhere!!! This one stole a ladies bag of crackers as she was getting it out of her bag!
And this one stole this guys ice cream!
What a little smooch huh?!
Yep, there's one on my back!
And there's another one climbing up my arm! They're CRAZY!
I had no idea monkeys could swim... but there was a little pond in the middle of the forest where they were all jumping in and swimming!
While we were there, we ran into this couple from Oregon. It's nearly impossible to find other Americans... most people are from Europe, Australia, or Asia. So, when you hear an American accent, it's hard not to say hello. What's crazy though, is this couple is from Grants Pass, a teeny tiny city in Oregon where Kevin and all his best friends get their tatoos done by a guy named Jeff Gogue. What's even crazier was that she had a tatoo by Jeff! I mean come on... what are the chances?!
Me and Aaron in the forest!
I'm not sure that I've ever seen a leaf bigger than this one!
Aaron near the stream that ran through the middle of the forest.
mmmm, bananas!
You'd think this was somewhere in Disneyland or something, but this is the REAL DEAL!
It was raining when we got to the Monkey Forest, so I bought this awesome umbrella from a lady outside the gate for about $8.00! Unfortuntely, I put it down at one point while we were there, and I forgot it. When we went back, it was gone. :( Guess Indonesia isn't quite like Korea where you can leave things laying around and no one touches them.
Aaron has a really funny video that goes along with this picture that I'll upload when I get back home. This monkey jumped on me and was biting my shirt and punching me in the back!!! It was soooo scary!
We especially liked rule # 5. "If the monkey jumps on you, stand still and walk away slowly." So, do we stand still, or walk away... I'm confused!
After we had seen enough of the monkeys, we walked into town and got some ice cream from a little antique shop in the heart of Ubud.
As you've seen, they lay offerings infront of their homes and stores... so during the day, when business is slow, they prepare the baskets for the following day.
We decided to check out the famous art market in the heart of Ubud! It was overwhelming, but awesome!!!
This woman had such a sweet soul and a beautiful smile, I couldn't resist buying one of her little wooden monkeys. I've decided I'll stain it and use it as a Christmas ornament!
You'd think these were Billabong flip flops, but don't be fooled... They're Balibong!
There was sooo much to look at here!
Outside the art market
This was a trash can along the sidewalk, near the art market. I guess if the dogs don't eat the offerings, they go here, in this trash!
Anyone need a basket?!
After doing some shopping, we hopped on the scooter and rode about 3 miles to a place where thousands of Heron's fly to at 6:00pm EVERYNIGHT! The locals believe they are the spirits of the deceased. It was incredible! They filled the trees down this entire road!
A Heron, sitting in the rice fields...
We rode for a while, down this narrow road, through the village where the locals live. I had gotten off the bike to take a picture of a home and Aaron said, "Hey look above you! There's bananas!"
I asked Aaron to stop the scooter for a quick second so I could take his picture...
... and this is the nice scar I'll have to commemorate the moment! As I was getting off the scooter, my leg touched the exhaust! Ouch!!!
We stopped at a little roadside snack bar to grab some snacks! 1 small bag of chips and a coke, all for the the measley price of .40 cents!!!
Which, of course, we had to toast to!
The road was gorgeous, and was covered in rice paddies!
Can you believe this woman?! I can barely steady a book on my head and stand still!
We're becoming experts at navigating around this country! Somehow we made it back into town! :)
We stopped into this little restaurant for some Babi Guling (Pig roasted on a stick!)
After dinner, we walked over to the Palace.
Earlier in the day, we had been solicited to purchase tickets for this show, inside the Palace courtyard! 80,000 rupiah (about $10.00) But, when we walked by the palace after dinner, the doors were wide open, so we walked right in! We got to watch the show for free!!!
It was a great adventurous day!! We're hoping to have just as much adventure today, mixed with some relaxation! I'm off to get my 11:00am massage! :)
DAY 9
MASSAGES AND RICE PADDIES
DAY 9 was all about relaxation in the morning, and exercise and adventure in the afternoon!
We started the morning with our usual breakfast at the place, and then did some blogging and interneting. It's a good thing I enjoy writing my blogs, because they take FOREVER! As I was sitting, writing my blog, I could hear kids screaming and crying outside the door, so I went out to see what was going on... and this is what I saw! Yes, they are weighing him! haha
When I was finished, we rode the scooter for a while and decided to grab some lunch at the same place we went yesterday! We noticed the same European man as we saw yesterday and decided to strike up a conversation with him. Turns out, he's lived all over the world and currently lives in Bali doing some sort of interior architectural design. He grew up in Austria and knows German, Italian, French, Chinese, and English! He was a Psychiatrist for a while in Austria and then began some business ventures. He told us all about the secret side of Indonesia... Here are some things, we had no idea about:
1. The dances were created by Europeans when tourism became popular 40 years ago. They did have dances before this, but they were very simple, and the clothing was not colorful, bright, and beautiful.
2. The temple structures within the living compounds were built for their ancestors... and many times the families will try to build the nicest, with the most gold, to impress their neighbors.
3. Women have virtually no rights in Bali.
4. Bali doesn't follow Indonesian law.
After talking with him and eating lunch, we rode the scooter over to the market to meet the old man who offered to give me an hour long massage for 20,000 Rupiah. When we arrived there, he didn't seem to recognize me, so I asked a man standing by where I could get a massage, and he said, "This man, here" and pointed to the old man, sitting on the curb. Aaron asked, "Where does he do it?" and his answer was, "Here on the street!" hahaha. Not exactly the massage I had in mind... So, we jumped on the scooter, in search of a REAL massage place.
We landed at Massage Bliss, where I had a 1 hour Balinese Massage, a sea salt scrub (boobs included... that was weird), and a warm bath with fresh flower petals! It was incredible... all for the measly price of $10.00!!!!!
After massage time, we rode the scooter for a bit, to check out the surroundings! I found this beautiful entrance to a home!
We had read in the Bali Lonely Planet book about a beautiful 2 mile hike through the jungle, rice paddies, and Ayung river, and decided it sounded like fun. So, we found the starting point: Sayan Terrace Hotel. What a gorgeous view huh?!
We asked where the trail was that lead down to the water, and we were pointed in the direction of a very old, warn out, and overgrown pathway. We laughed at what was staring us in the eyes, and started the trek down the VERY steep and muddy jungle hillside!
And, finally, with no broken bones (thank goodness!) we made it to the river!
Then, about 200 feet away, we found this staircase leading to where we had started! hahahha!
We began walking along the river and were stopped by this lady, who informed us that the land was private land and that we should cross over to the other side of the river and walk through the rice paddies instead. So, we followed her into the river! She promised us it wasn't very deep, but by the time we made it to the other side, my clothes were completely soaked and I had had a good laugh along the way!
As we were walking through the jungle, she pointed to this banana tree! She said I could try one, but that it wouldn't taste very good, because it wasn't ready! But, you know me and fruit, it can NEVER taste bad... so, I pulled one off the tree...
... and bit into it!
and then I spit it out! She was right! It was disgusting. It tasted like biting into a piece of chalk! She laughed, of course, and said I'm like a monkey!
We saw coffee beans...
... chocolate...
.... a snake, which she found slithering across the pathway... ehh!
... papayas...
... mango stein (which is absolutely delicious!!!
... and the most gorgeous Banyan trees I've ever seen! These were thought to be over 2,000 years old! Can't find that in Cali!
She lead us through a small village where we met these adorable kiddos, who were more than willing to have their picture taken! It was a nice change from the Korean kiddos, who shy away when a camera is around!
As we were walking, I saw a woman, walking ahead of us, with this huge basket on her head, and asked the lady who was guiding us, if I could try carrying it on my head! She laughed, and asked, "Really?!" Before I knew it, she had yelled for the woman and asked her if I could try!
It was WAY harder than I would have thought, and I could barely balance it enough to let go! Looks like I've got some practicing to do!
When she put the basket down, we saw that she was carrying huge chips made from local vegetables, rice, and __________ (I can't remember... I'll fill this in later!) So, we bought some!
and I walked over and gave them to the neighborhood kids! They apparently are BIG fans, because they were sooo excited when I handed them to them!
More local kids on the road.
We got into the main village and she called 2 of her friends to take us back to the Sayan Hotel so we could get our scooter.
They were VERY nice and stopped here so we could take a picture of the volcano in the background, which we are going to be riding the scooter to this afternoon! Aaron, Mr. Mountain Boy is ready for some hiking!
The rest of the day was spent relaxing, eating, walking, and riding the scooter! :) We are huge fans of this area, and are gonna stay at least one more day!!
Time for our Volcano adventure!!!
DAY 10
VOLCANO, SCOOTER, AND TEMPLE!
DAY 10 was filled with scooter riding, gorgeous views, and uncomfortable, but funny memories!
We started the day with banana pancakes with coconut on my balcony at the place we're staying, some blogging, and then hopped on the scooter and headed for Mt. Agung (an active volcano).
We had a map, but weren't too sure we were going the right way, so we ended up stopping about 15 times to ask where the next town was that we were headed for. (Total adventure was over 100 kilometers.)
Sometimes we were told things like, "Turn right at the statue!" I wish we had more round-a-bouts with beautiful statues in America!
After riding for a while, we decided to stop here, between Gianyar and Sideman to get some lunch amidst the sea of rice paddies. When we walked up to the counter, the lady asked "Two?" and we said, "Yes" and then were motioned to find a seat. We had no idea what we were about to eat!
... and then this came!
We weren't sure what the meat was, or what the balls were in the soup, so after eating it, we decided to ask. I scooped one of them in my spoon and asked the young girl, "Excuse me, What is this?" I received a very confused look, so I quickly asked, "Pig, oink, oink?!" hoping that she would understand... and in PERFECT English, she responded, "Yes!" Aaron laughed at me and said, "She knows English Jillers. You should talk to people normally first, and then if they don't understand, say the animal noises." I felt kind of dumb and totally agreed, and we laughed about how she probably knows perfect English. But then, about 3 minutes later, she brought us another whole bowl of the soup and we realized she apparently didn't know any English at all! Feeling bad about wasting the soup (since it was kind of gross), I poured it into the grass when she wasn't looking. That's the great part about eating outside! :)
After lunch, we got back on the scooter and rode through the towns, until we reached the most beautiful stretch of land I've maybe ever seen! We had to get off the scooter and take a picture! (When you have to set your camera on random poles in the ground, you don't always capture the full surroundings! This is all we could get!)
You would think that there would be a highway leading to a mountain, but nope... we rode, almost 3/4 of the way through neighborhoods like this one! Everyone was so friendly and would wave and smile as we passed.
This family was hanging their laundry on a huge piece of bamboo! I love the resourcefulness around here!
We saw a lot of craftsmen along the way, working at their roadside shops. This man was hand painting this small temple.
These guys were chipping at volcanic rock to create gorgeous figures and statues of Hindi gods.
We're not sure what this was, but it looked like it was the remnants of a HUGE temple party!
The road was beautiful, the ENTIRE WAY up the mountain!
... and was REALLY, REALLY steep most of the way up!
This was probably one of the more funny experiences of my entire life. When we got almost all the way up the mountain, we saw an old man, sitting in a roadside stand who got up to greet us as we got near. He motioned for us to park the scooter, so we did. We weren't sure why, but we did it. I got off first and followed him over to this statue. He motioned for me to take off my helmet and pick up a flower, so I did, trying not to laugh! Then, he motioned for me to fold my hands and bow about 20 times. Aaron, of course, being Mr. Photographer, was busy taking pics... but the man wasn't having it. He made Aaron come over and do the same thing. So, there we were, the two of us, holding flowers in our hands, and bowing to this statue, trying soooo hard not to laugh at what was happening! But then, the best part came! The old man took a cup of dirty water and dipped a paintbrush looking thing into it, and splashed a ton of water into my face! At this point, I almost lost it! Then, Aaron was next! Then, he splashes the dirty water into our hands and motioned for us to drink it! ehhhh!!!! I heard Aaron making a noise like he was drinking it, so I went ahead and drank it too. (Come to find out later, he just made the sound) I'm not sick this morning, so I think I should be fine!
When the whole ritual was finished, he allowed us to get back on our scooter and head up the mountain, but not before giving him some money first! hahaha
When we got to the end of the road, we saw a temple on the mountain. Aaron said he had read about the temple, and knew that it was the most sacred temple in all of Bali... so, we got off the scooter and decided to check it out. We were quickly stopped by this man, who told us we needed to put a sarong on first!
Then, we started the climb! 335 stairs in all! (Yep, I counted!)
.... and then we reached this! Notice, we are in the clouds! We were soooooo high on the mountain!
There was a man worshiping there who offered to take our picture!
After spending some time looking around the temple, we headed back down the mountain. We saw this beautiful area of bamboo and decided to see where the path lead.
Unfortunately it lead to a barking dog who wasn't happy we were there, so we turned around and headed back to the road!
The views on the drive were so gorgeous! These pictures just can't do them justice!
We heard this ice cream man behind us, with his Indonesian ice cream truck music blaring from his scooter, and we flagged him to stop! When will I ever again get ice cream from a man on a scooter!? We had to take advantage of the moment.
While Aaron was waiting for the man to scoop his ice cream, I walked towards the field workers who motioned for me to come over closer. I was so excited, hoping I could help them harvest whatever they were harvesting for a couple minutes... Unfortunately, they only motioned for me to come over so they could ask for money, which seems to be a common thing around these parts! The kids seem to know about 4 phrases: Hello, Bye bye, What's your name?, and money.
As excited as we were about the idea of ice cream, it unfortunately wasn't very yummy. In fact, half of the cup was filled with this tapioca juice mixture. I pretended like mine fell into the dirt! Oops (wink, wink) :)
The views in this area were absolutely spectacular.
On our drive back, we spotted this elephant on the side of the road with a dear on it's head. Aaron is such a great travel companion, because he's always up for stopping to take a picture for me! :)
7 hours later, we were back in Ubud with sore butts from being on the scooter almost the whole time! We walked for a little while and found this restaurant that had a whole page of Mexican food on their menu!!!!! I'm never a fan of eating food, other than the native food to the area, when traveling in Asia, but we don't have Mexican food in Korea, so we had to stop!
Then, desert was 2 chocolate chip cookies at this charming cafe down the road!
We took a long walk home, past the monkey forest (which was a bit terrifying), and made it back safely to the place, exhausted from our adventurous day!
Today we're going to try to find a hidden waterfall. Not sure if we'll be able to find it, but we're sure gonna try! Wish us luck!
DAY 11
WATERFALL, WATER PALACE, AND KITE FLYING
We started the day by checking out a waterfall that Aaron found a picture of online! After asking about 10 people for directions along the way, we finally arrived, and it was DEFINITELY worth it! We paid .50 cents to enter the area, grabbed some snacks at the small stand at the top of th mountain and then began the 171 stair decent down to the river where the waterfall fell into.
It was a bit of a task to get close to the waterfall. There were lots of slippery rocks, deep and shallow water, and mud to get through before getting there... but once again, it was WORTH it!
Oh, and I guess I should mention that for the first 45 minutes or so, we were the only people there! AMAZING huh?!
Next to the waterfall, there were tall cliffs with cool spring water coming from bamboo holes into the river. The landscape here is like nothing I've ever seen! It's almost magical!
After the waterfall, we took the scooter to the famous Puri Saren Agung (Royal Palace, Water Palace) It's only about 150 feet from the place we were both staying at. This was the palace of the kings of Ubud until the 1940s and some royal descendants still live there to this day. These are the doors leading to the palace.
And this is inside the palace. There were a bunch of rules about what you had to wear to enter (and if you were "menstruating," you WERE NOT ALLOWED! I snapped this picture from the left door, which happened to be open (lucky for us!) This was, hands down, the most beautiful Palace Temple I've seen yet.
Most of the statues of Hindu gods are wrapped in this black and white checkered cloth. I'm not sure the significance... I'll try to ask someone before I leave.
These young Balinese boys were fishing in the small pond in front of the water palace. Believe it or not, under the masses of Lotus flower lily pads, there were lots of fish!
When we had seen every nook and cranny of the beauties of the water palace, we headed over to the Art Market to buy a kite to fly over the rice paddies! This handmade, hand painted, one of a kind Balinese kite was only $6.00! It came with a ball of string, which Aaron kindly wrapped around a water bottle so we could actually fly it! Don't be fooled by the bored look on his face... he was definitely as excited about kite flying as I was!
We decided to ride the scooter through the small towns and rice fields on the outskirts of Ubud, and try to fly the kite behind us, but there was ABSOLUTELY no wind, so it basically either flew in wide circles between the air and the ground, or just drug behind us while we, and the locals all laughed! It may not have flown, but it made for a really funny experience!
Aaron was trying to compensate for the fact that he's holding a butterfly kite!
After flying the kite, we stopped by the monkey forest once more to say goodbye to our monkey friends... The only food we had were rasberry mentos, so we bit them in half and would give one 1/2 to 1 monkey and the other 1/2 to another. Believe it or not, they LOVED them! Go figure, huh?!
The sun was going down and we were starving, so we stopped in at this charming restaurant on Monkey Forest road and had a drink and the most delicious food, all for about $5.00!
It was definitely an adventure packed day with lots of laughter and beauty!
DAY 12
ISLAND PARADISE
DAY 12 was what we'd been waiting for for a long time: blue skies, lots of sun, beautiful sand and crystal clear water! It's what Bali is all about right?!
We took a small boat over to Nusa Lembongan Island in the morning (south of Bali), arrived around 11am and checked into a darling bungalow style hotel called Bungalow No. 7 on the water! My room is the one closest to the ocean... It's about 25 feet from the water!
We dropped our bags in our bungalows and grabbed some lunch at the on-site restaurant.
Then, after our belly's were full, we jumped on our scooter and rode around the island, stopping at lots of different places, like this one, where the water shot up from under these rocks!
Then we found Mushroom Beach! It was exactly what we'd been waiting for and dreaming about! Yes, that's me, laying in the SHADE! The sun was sooo hot, I couldn't help it!
Since I couldn't bare laying in the sun, Aaron taught me how to float on my back in the water... It was perfect, because I could get tan, and be in the water all at the same time!! :)
After going to the beach, we jumped back on the scooter and continued our quest around the island! We saw a sign for "Underground house" and intrigued, we turned the bike around and headed for it!
The house was built underground using only a hammer, chisel and intuition as guidance. It took 15 years to complete this incredible labyrinth, which includes a bedroom, dining room, kitchen, bathroom and sacred meditation room.
This was our tour guide, through the caves... He definitely grabbed me in the dark a couple times... not sure if it was on purpose or not. I'd like to think it wasn't, but I'll chalk it up to the experience!
We decided to head over to a smaller island called Ceningan Island, which you can reach by a very narrow yellow wood slatted bridge! As we entered the Island, we saw these guys playing volleyball and waved hello. They motioned for us to come over and play, so we stayed here for a while, playing a little game of bump the ball with them!
Then we jumped back on the scooter and headed south. We came to a REALLY steep hill, and as we were going up, there were a bunch of high school aged kids on scooters coming down. So that we didn't crash, Aaron pulled over to the side of the road... but because the hill was so steep, every time he would hit the gas, we would go backwards, down the hill! Luckily, there were two young guys behind us who got off their scooter and gave us a little push... and the rest is history!
That is how we met these two! Nyoman (19) and Kadek (17), two boys, native to Ceningan Island! Their families are both seaweed farmers... They wanted to practice their english, so they offered to show us around the island.
First, they took us here to the Blue Lagoon, which was perfectly named! It was some of the bluest water I've seen to date!
Aaron and I standing on the cliff at the Blue Lagoon.
Then, they asked us if we wanted to see a beautiful view, which of course we did! so, we headed up the Tsunami trail to the top of the hill on the island, where we could see all of Bali and Lmebongan Island. We hung out here as the sun was setting and talked about living in Indonesia, religion, family, etc...
We all rode the scooters down the hill and stopped here at Kopi Break Cafe for some dinner. This is the ONLY restaurant on the island and it happened to be owned by one of Nyoman's friends... which isn't surprising, considering there are only 300 people living here!
We hung out here for a while with all the locals! :)
When we got back to Bungalow No 7, we grabbed our towels and headed for the beach in front of the hotel to watch the end of the sunset and the lightning storm in the far off distance! It was beautiful!!
We have a date with Nyoman and Kadek today to jump of the yellow bridge connecting the 2 islands! I've never jumped off a bridge! Nyoman said he would jump with me and hold my hand while we jumped... so look out for my next blog! You just might see me jumping off a bridge! (Don't worry mom, it's only about 12 feet from the water!)
DAY 13
BRIDGE JUMPING, SNORKELING, AND COCK FIGHT...
DAY 13 started with delicious french toast at our on-site restaurant, overlooking the water... Then, we hoped on the scooter, bought 1/2 of a watermelon for a dollar, and headed over to the bridge to meet Nyoman and Kadek. First, we stopped for me to pick up another sarong! I love these things, and would live in them if I ever moved here!
This was the view the store employees got to enjoy everyday! Can you imagine?!
We rode over the bridge and met Nyoman and Kadek, who were waiting with some friends on the beach! They asked "Are you ready to jump?" and the rest was history! Nyoman and I went first. As you can see, I was feeling a mix of pure fear and excitement!
Then, the boys all counted and wala... I jumped! It felt like it took forever to reach the crystal clear water! What a rush! And as promised, Nyoman held me hand the whole way!
Then it was Aaron and Kadek's turn! They were more brave than me and jumped from the top of the rail!
Everyone did it!
After jumping, we rented some snorkeling gear, found a guy to charter a boat for us for $10.00 and waited here in this seaweed farm for him to bring the boat over. The main source of income on this island (yes, more than tourism) is seaweed. They sell it to Japan, where it is turned into make-up! Each of these areas of seaweed is about $24.00 for them.
Ready for some ocean snorkeling on the reef!
This was the water we snorkeled in. At points, we were in 30 plus feet of water and could see perfectly, all the way down to the bottom!
Aaron, ready to go! We played games in the water, ie: Find the Starfish, where whoever found the 1st giant blue starfish would win! I won! :) We saw fish I've only ever seen in huge salt water fish tanks (but obviously much bigger) and fish I never knew ever existed, and corals of every possible shape and size! It was incredible! The current was sooo strong that we ended up, sometimes at least 300 feet away from our anchored boat, which was pretty scary. I made Aaron hold my hand almost the whole time, because I didn't want to get separated way out there! Being the nice guy that he is, he obliged! Notice how far out we are! We were definitely out in the ocean!
When we got back from snorkeling, we talked with Ahleet, the 20 year old local bartender at our place, who told us about the Cock Fighting on Ceningan Island. He said the whole town comes out to watch, so we knew we needed to experience it!
When we arrived, we were welcomed by everyone, and handed chickens to hold! It was really awesome!
This is what they do to prepare the cocks for fighting! They put them in front of each other, and bounce them up and down until they become angry.
Nyoman and Kadek were there, so we hung out with them, and asked them lots of questions about what was going on.
Everyone brings their cocks in bags, like these!
They look like little purses to me! I have no idea how they squish them into these little things...
Once the biggest and strongest are chosen, this knife is a attached to their talons.
Nyoman and his grandfather, who was sitting off to the side... Obviously not there to watch, but rather only to gamble. When I asked Nyoman how old he was, he said he had no idea... but his brother, who was standing nearby said he was 120 years old. Not too sure he was quite that old, but he was definitely old!
After the cocks have the knife attached, and the betting had taken place, the fight begins. There were 3 last night. The 1st one lasted about 5 minutes, and the last 2 were VERY quick.
The cock who is considered about to die, is taken to this man where it's head it smooshed by his foot, and he pounds it's body with his fist in order to assist in a quicker death... Then he takes the knife off of it's talon. It was a fairly gruesome experience, but it's their culture... and if I want to experience a day in the life of the locals, than these are the things I need to see. Nyoman said the cock fights are every night!
This was the sunset, happening behind us!!!
After the fight, Nyoman invited us back to his house, which was about 100 feet down the road. He gave us the grand tour, and I think we were both shocked to see how poor they are here. This is the entrance to the temple outside his home where he, along with his family worship 2 times a day (6am and 8pm - EVERYDAY!)
This is the well where Nyoman scoops water from...
... then he pours it into the square hole in the wall, which then pours into a small pool in the bathroom. He uses the black scooper to pour the water over his body in order to shower. Oh, and I think it's worth mentioning that it's SALT WATER, straight from the ocean.
There's another well on the opposite side that collects rain from rain gutters, which is then used for their drinking water (filtered only by a small net at the end of the rain gutter).
As we were walking through his makeshift garden, he pointed up into the tree and said "This is where the chickens sleep." haha! I had no idea chickens slept in trees in the wild!
We rode the scooter back in the dark, which was really scary, but we made it safely back to Bungalow No 7! We ate dinner, by candlelight and moonlight, and talked for a while at our table, overlooking the water! It's definitely magical here, and since meeting Nyoman and Kadek, it's becoming a little more like we're part of the community! It's going to be hard to eventually leave. This is quickly becoming my Railay, Thailand part 2!
DAY 14
EAT, READ, RAIN!
DAY 14 was one of the most relaxing days we've had yet on our trip, but also one of the most adventurous!
We started the day off with breakfast together on the beach. Then, I grabbed my book and indulged in some reading...
...while Aaron indulged in some sun on the beach below me!
I asked Ahleet, the bartender at our place, where I could get a massage and he walked me over to this woman, down the beach about 100 feet. I enjoyed an incredible Balinese style massage while listening to the waves crash behind me, the roosters crowing, and the locals chatting on the benches behind me. She used so much oil that when I left, I looked like one of those gross body builders at their competition (minus the GIGANTIC muscles!) It was a great experience!
The girls who work at my hotel were all sitting near the reception desk making these beautiful flowers and baskets out of Coconut Tree palm frawns. I sat for a while, with them, watching the intricacies of this art. They said they make them 2 times a month for God. Once at full moon and once at "dead moon."
When we got hungry for lunch, we jumped on the scooter and headed down our favorite road....
Yes, these are the views we can enjoy while riding around the island. My hotel is down there where all the red roofs are.
We stopped at Mushroom beach, where we had lunch overlooking the water!
After lunch, we headed over to Ceningan Island to pay Nyoman's sister back for some snacks we bought last night before the cock fight and ran into Nyoman and Kadek, who were sitting outside of her store. Nyoman caught this baby chick for me to hold! What a little smooch, huh?!
We hung out with the guys for a while and went to some places we hadn't checked out yet.
They said this is a blow hole, but the waves weren't big enough to come up through it that day. Aaron was braver than me and went down into it.
Minutes later it started pouring down rain! This was the 1st rain we had had in days and were refreshed by it's coolness! The guys wanted to keep showing us stuff, so we followed them on our scooters, through muddy and very slippery jungle roads, to some of the most beautiful viewpoints I've seen to date! Since it was pouring rain, I couldn't take any pictures... They'll have to stay in my memory, and you'll just have to do your best to imagine them. :)
Remember that beautiful turquoise sarong I bought yesterday?! Well, turns out, when it gets wet, it bleeds green! Yep, this is me... The green monster! I had to scrub and scrub and scrub to get it all off! Today, it's folded up in my hotel room... :)
We had dinner on the beach and read on comfy lounge chairs in the courtyard of our place until all of the hotel employees had left to go to sleep! We love this place and hate having to end our days!
Not sure what we're going to do today, but I only have 19 pages left of my book, which I love (Thank you Cassie for sending it to me!)... so I think after breakfast, I'll finish that off, and then we'll be on yet another adventure around the island!
DAY 15
SWIMMING, EATING, AND VOMITING! :(
DAY 15 started of beautifully with blue skies, sun, and lots of happy Balinese locals.
Please forgive me... I've been sick all night, and am still feeling nautious, so I'm just going to gently skim over what we did and saw...
This is Ahleet, the bartender at our hotel.
We swam for most of the day at Mushroom beach and Aaron taught me how to do flips and handstands in the water!
We hiked up to this temple at the top of the hill on the island... (By law, Indonesian cities have to erect 3 temples per city.)
... and jumped down!
This is the volcano we rode the scooter up to when we were staying in Ubud. It's extremely rare to be able to see the top without any clouds! (Sorry it's sideways)
When we got back to the hotel, we grabbed our books and headed for the comfy chairs in the courtyard. I overheard a guy say he was from the US while talking with the scuba instuctors at the dive center next door and I started up a conversation with him to see where exactly he was from. This is Dan! He's 25 and is from DC and was working as a researcher for a law firm before he decided to travel for 9 months, all over Asia, staying a month in each country! (again, sorry it's sideways... not sure what's going on with this program.)
We ended up having dinner with Dan at our place and had a great time talking about life and traveling with him...
More to come later...I was up all night with food poisoning from the sandwich I had at dinner and am still not feeling well.
DAY 16
SLEEPING
Day 16 was spent feeling nautious and sleeping from my food poisoning! Luckily I had Dr. Aaron to keep me company and take care of me. He was a great doctor and sat by me all day, reading, so I wouldn't be lonely when I woke up! :) We saw Dan later, around 7pm, and he gave me some medicine for food poisoning, and it worked like a charm! I was able to sleep through the whole night. :)
Today (Day 17) I'm feeling almost 100% and am ready to get back out and enjoy the last couple days of my vacation! We were planning to leave Nusa Lembongan yesterday morning, to see Nusa Dua, but since I was sick, the thought of getting on a boat wasn't too appealing, so we stayed. Now, since we only have 2 days left, we've decided to stay here on the island! Besides, I think we've found the hidden treasure of Indonesia... So why leave, right?!
DAY 17
NEW FRIENDS
I woke up feeling 90% better, and after getting some plain toast and a couple pieces of fresh Balinese fruit, I was up to 100%! So, Aaron and I rented a scooter again and drove over to Dream Beach, but not before Aaron loaded my hair with these flowers that grow in the courtyard of our hotel. He always slips one in my ear in the morning, but today, he went a little crazy!
and then the women from the town loaded them onto their heads and WALKED them to their stores in the deep powdery sand and blistering heat!
As we were driving to Dream beach, I snapped this picture of a local TV area! When sports are on, all of the locals pile into these community TV bungalows and huddle up, nice and close, to watch and cheer together! I love this idea and the way it brings people from the community together!
Finally, we made it to Dream Beach!
After the ride, I was feeling a little yucky, so I layed here in the shade for a while....
... while Dan and Aaron sat and talked sports in the sun!
Most of the day, at Dream Beach, was spent swiming and crashing in the waves! The water is crystal clear, and the sand is fluffy and white! It's a beautiful place!
As we were playing in the waves, we met 2 Canadian girls from Vancoover, Kelsey and Jaime, (the only other people in the water!) both 20 years old. They are traveling all over Asia as well! They are awesome, and a lot of fun!
There were 4 local Lembongan boys who came over to play with us in the water too! Dan and Aaron were throwing them into the air, so they would splash into the water! They loved it. This one was trying to surf on this broken surf board (He only had 1/2 of it) and yes, he was doing it in his undies! :)
The 5 of us jumped on our scooters and rode through the island, over to the yellow bridge, so we could all jump together! Aaron and I were sooo excited when we saw Nyoman and Kadek in the street, talking with some friends! When we asked them if they wanted to jump with us, they said "Of course" and off we went to the bridge!
The 5 of us jumped on our scooters and rode through the island, over to the yellow bridge, so we could all jump together! Aaron and I were sooo excited when we saw Nyoman and Kadek in the street, talking with some friends! When we asked them if they wanted to jump with us, they said "Of course" and off we went to the bridge!
We took the jumping pictures on Dan's camera... so sorry, you'll just have to imagine what we looked like! We all went together, at the same time, which was really fun! FYI though: If you're ever going to jump off a bridge, don't land in the splits! I'm walking with a limp and can barely move my left leg and it's been over 12 hours now! (Don't worry mom.... it' just a soar muscle!)
Kadek found this amazing starfish in the deep water, when we were swimming to shore! It looked like it has hershey kisses glued to it and was really heavy!
The whole crew~ Aaron, Me, Nyoman, Jaime, Dan, Kelsey, and Kadek after we all jumped!
We all went back to our places to take showers and meet back up for the cock fight on Penida Island, but as soon as we met up to ride over there, it started pouring rain... so Dan and Aaron and I all decided to lounge around in the courtyard of our place instead!! I got through 100 pages of my new book (The 5 People You Meet in Heaven, by the same author as Tuesdays With Morrie!) As you can probably imagine, it rained the rest of the night! We welcomed the rain with open arms, since it cools off the place and gives us a break from the heat!
It's 8:20am right now, here in paradise... Unfortunately, there are gray clouds above us, so it may rain again today. We're not going to let it ruin our last full day here though! We'll make the best of it, like we always do! We're leaving on the morning boat tomorrow to Sanur and then will head to the airport, where we'll catch a plane to Hong Kong. Then we'll be in Hong Kong for the night... Hopefully we'll get out and see the town while we're there! :)
Until next time...
DAY 18
ONE LAST TRIP AROUND THE ISLAND!
As it turned out, DAY 18 was fabulous! The gray clouds moved their little selves out of the sky around 9am, and all we could see was blue the entire day! What a wonderful treat for our last full day in Indonesia!
We rented the scooter again and decided to take one last ride around the entire island... Here are some pictures I took along the way of the locals:
Nyoman's neice after her shower...
Some local junior high age boys getting ready to jump off the bridge connecting the 2 islands...
A statue of a Hindu god, with a fresh offering laid before it...
... a young Lembongan boy, watching his older brothers play volleyball...
... walking along the village road
... a young Lembongan boy, watching his older brothers play volleyball...
... walking along the village road
... a humble offering outside the entrance to a home where a Hindu ceremony was taking place...
... a beautiful woman who lived in Lembongan. We met her when we stopped the scooter to play with some puppies along the road. She saw us, and brought her own puppy over to meet us! He was even cuter and MUCH cleaner than the ones we were attempting to catch and play with...
... he did like to bite though!! :(
A boy, with his dad, riding through the island...
About 100 women, carrying offering baskets on their heads, down from the temple on the hill. They do this twice a month: once at full moon, and once at 1/2 moon.
A family commune where seaweed is their livelyhood...
One of the oldest men on the island, walking his bike along the quiet road...
One of the oldest men on the island, walking his bike along the quiet road...
Arizonans... Can you believe it?! Lantana flowers grow here, and they're everywhere!!!
This young boy lived in a small shack along the sand... He was playing, alone, on his bike, while his mother cooked behind him.
"Oh my gosh, I think that was a pig!" was what I said when we rode by this big old pot belly along the side of the road!
Not sure where his pants are, but he does have some candy! :)
Their own personal take on a punching bag gym! I think this scenery would make anyone want to exercise!
This was the scene right behind our hotel, in the alley where we would park the scooter. It was a common reminder of how I should always be thankful for what I have!
A bored, young Lembongan boy, waiting for his dad to finish working at a motor bike maintenance shop.
(Probably a brother and sister) playing under a gigantic banyan tree in the village.
After making our way completely around the island, we stopped by Mushroom Beach, just to bid it farewell, and then headed to Dream Beach where we spent almost the entire day again! We both agreed it was our favorite beach in Indonesia, so, it seemed fitting that we spent our last day there!
Aaron found a comfy hammock, and I layed my sarong, on the sand, 1/2 way under him for some shade, and left just enough room at the end for my toes to dangle into the powdery sand! It was great! We both had our books with us, and only ever put them down when the water was calling our names! :)
As we were reading, we saw Tick (the name we gave her), a stray puppy/dog, who lives at Dream Beach. We gave her the name tick, because, well, she has ticks; lots of them, in addition to a skin disease and something that makes her limp around!
After making our way completely around the island, we stopped by Mushroom Beach, just to bid it farewell, and then headed to Dream Beach where we spent almost the entire day again! We both agreed it was our favorite beach in Indonesia, so, it seemed fitting that we spent our last day there!
Aaron found a comfy hammock, and I layed my sarong, on the sand, 1/2 way under him for some shade, and left just enough room at the end for my toes to dangle into the powdery sand! It was great! We both had our books with us, and only ever put them down when the water was calling our names! :)
As we were reading, we saw Tick (the name we gave her), a stray puppy/dog, who lives at Dream Beach. We gave her the name tick, because, well, she has ticks; lots of them, in addition to a skin disease and something that makes her limp around!
We saw her the day before, and loved on her for a little bit. When we left, she followed us all the way to our scooter, which made me sad to say goodbye. So, we were thrilled that she remembered us today! She layed with us ALL day, right next to me in the sand! :)
Can you tell we're both HUGE animal lovers!?
When we left the beach, we rode about 200 meters away, to a grassy area with a beautiful view. When we got back on the bike to head out, look who we had found! TICK!!! She limped all the way over to where we were! What a little smooch, huh?!
We said our long goodbyes, and then rode over to Ceningan Island to watch one last cock fight, but it was canceled for the night. We were still glad we headed over there because we were able to see, and say goodbye to, Nyoman and his brothers, who we have become close with over the week!
** One cultural side note that's worth sharing: Hindu's use a cast system... So, they will always ask you things like: Where you are going? Where did you come from? Where are you staying? What birth order are you? and... Are you married yet? It helps them know where to place you in their Hindu cast system. So, being that Aaron and I were always together, we would often get asked if we were married yet. Apparently, you should never just say "No." Rather, you should always answer by saying, "Not yet," even if you have no intentions of ever marrying! If you say "No" it throws them for a loop, and they don't know where to place you in their system. So, we would always answer, "Not yet" and start laughing! Then they would say they wanted to come to our wedding, which made us laugh even harder! It made for some fairly awkward, but funny moments with the locals!
We rode over to Sunset Beach...
... just as the sun was setting, to watch the waves crash and, of course, the sun set! Unfortunately, there was a gigantic cloud in the way, but the small area under the cloud filled the sky with blues, reds, and oranges... and that was beautiful enough for us!
We had dinner back at Bungalow No 7 with Dan, Jaime, and Kelsey, and then bid farewell for the night!
DAY 19
"HELLO, TRANSPORT?"
We got up nice and early for our last morning on Lembongan Island and said goodbye to all our local friends at the hotel. Dan was up early, eating breakfast, before his big scuba dive, which was a nice treat for us to be able to say goodbye!
We jumped on the crowded boat and lounged for an hour and a half till we arrived back in Bali, at Sanur Beach. We had 6 hours till our flight left, so we shopped around a bit (Lynzi, I found something for Blakely!), but were hounded, the entire time by taxi drivers asking, "Hello, Transport?" It makes sense, since we were holding our bags, but I honestly don't think it would be an exagerration to say we heard it over 70 times in the couple hours we were in Sanur!
... and ate some delicious Balinese sweet corn for breakfast!
When it was time to go, we hailed a cab and headed for the airport. We were both a little hungry, so we stopped here for lunch, just outside the airport. I say this, because I think it's worth saying that when you order food in Indonesia, your personal meal will NEVER, ever, ever, come out at the same time as your friends! Look at Aaron's plate (completely finished) just as mine was placed on the table.
We had a little bit of Rupiah (Indonesian currency) left, and knew it wouldn't be worth it to exchange it back to won, after paying the fee... so, we decided to do some shopping in the airport... but unfortunately, "I Love Bali" shirts weren't exactly something we wanted to add to our wardrobes, so...
in true fat kid fashion, we walked over to Dunkin Donuts and spent our last couple dollars on...
a 1/2 dozen donuts and laughed at how fun it was to splurge, while we ate each one of them! hahaha!
Our flight to Hong Kong was easy, comfortable, and just under 4 hours, with lots of movies and TV shows to keep us entertained!
Our flight to Hong Kong was easy, comfortable, and just under 4 hours, with lots of movies and TV shows to keep us entertained!
Since I was still limping along with my gimp leg, and Hong Kong was a gigantic airport, Aaron offered to carry all the bags! (And no, I never asked him to! It's just the southern gentleman in him!)
When we finally found our way out of the airport, we got on a bus, headed to Mong Kok area... not sure, really, what we would find there or where we would stay! (We didn't do any research on Hong Kong before we arrived - adventure style!) We spotted a hostel, right away, but it was full. We were handed a business card and told to "Try this hostel." So, we went there, and it was full too! At this point, we were exhausted and just wanted to set our bags down. The lady could sense our exhaustion and said, "I have 1 room, but you have to check out at 9:30am" Great, we thought! We'll take it! We can do that! So, we followed her to the room... and quickly realized it wasn't at her hostel, but rather another one about 5 blocks away! She walked with us the first 2 blocks and then handed us over to this older woman who guided us the last 3 blocks!
After you see "the room" we were offered, you will probably be about as speechless as we were!! I honestly couldn't stop laughing, and knew right away that this would be something I wouldn't soon forget!
We literally walked into the storage room, that just happened to have 2 beds, neither of which had any bedding on them... so, Aaron helped her make my bed! I was trying soooo hard not to laugh at this place!
Too bad I didn't need to do any sewing, huh?!
I'm adventurous, but I decided I could wait another 18 hours till I got home to take a shower! This was just a bit much for me!
We kept the TV on all night as a night light, because this place was soooo freaky!
We had to pay $200 Hong Kong dollars, which is about $30 USD (a decent price for Hong Kong hostels), but it was twice the price of the place we stayed on Lembongan Island! Crazy huh?!
We ended up dropping our bags and heading out for the night! The less amount of time we stayed there, the better! So, we walked, talked, shopped, ate, and drank until 1:30am, living it up in Hong Kong!
DAY 20
3 COUNTRIES IN 3 NIGHTS!
It's crazy to think I will have slept in 3 different countries in 3 consecutive nights! Ahhh, the life of a traveler. I could get used to this!
So, as you can see, I made it through the night in our crazy Hong Kong hostel! We both woke up early and were ready to get out of there and head out into town to see what we could find to entertain ourselves!
We both really hate to admit this, but we went to McDonalds for breakfast! In our defense though, it was literally the only place open to eat at 8:30am and we were starving! We noticed this "Say No To Straws" sticker on the straw dispenser! Glad to know Mickey D's in Hong Kong is doing it's part to stay green!
After breakfast, which again, we hate to admit it, but it was delicious, we headed for Fa Yeun Street Market, which we heard had some good, inexpensive shopping, and noticed right away that you could find a lot of random stuff there...
There were one of a kind paintings...
One of a kind foods... (I have no idea what this was, but it smelled rancid!)
Traditional Chinese clothing for children...
Character thongs for men... Aaron thought the tuxedo one was pretty clever!
Pig hooves...
Full fried ducks...
Weird sausages of every shape, size, and animal...
Traditional Chinese party decorations...
Traditional Chinese party decorations...
Nuts of every kind and candy from all over the world...
and delicious tropical fruits!!!!
I have to say though, my all time favorite find were these Victoria Secret-Roxy slippers, which were obviously in the midst of an identity crisis!
We were able to play around the city for about 5 hours before jumping on the bus back to the airport! As we were walking to the bus stop, we spotted this Popcorn Monster place that offered every disgusting flavor of popcorn you could ever imagine. You think I'm joking?! You could buy anything from dill pickle cream to watermelon flavored... we settled for some caramel, which happened to be delicious!
We made it to our flight, with plenty of time to spare! I'm now laying, comfortably in my own clean bed, in my welcoming and cheerful Korean apartment, sad to have said goodbye to Indonesia, but content with being home and enjoying the comforts that it brings, like warm showers!!
I speak for Aaron, and myself, when I say this. Indonesia will always occupy a piece of our hearts, and the people of Lembongan and Ceningan Island will have an especially special place in them!
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I guess this means goodbye...13 years ago
Haeundae Beach
Busan, South Korea
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