Day 9 Beach Day & Final Post

We left our condo in Candidasi for our last night in Sanur, a small town closer to the airport.  We have finally found the tourists!  Where we have spent the week was definitely off the track.  Where we are now is not.  Many hotels and resorts from guest houses to 5-star’s.  Gusto, our driver, was pointing to one resort across the bay calling it the “Red Skeleton”.  We thought he as pointing to a burial ground for locals.  He finally had to write in the sand - Ritz Carlton.

The girls decided we would visit three beaches today based on recommendations in the guide book.  The first was by the airport, so Tom and I could watch planes land while the girls shelled.  The second was more of a resort beach;  lots of people walking on the sand and playing in the water.  At the end of the beach was a rock outcropping where we watched the biggest waves ever crash, probably 50-60 feet high.  (People were standing on the rock, too small to see!)

So, we couldn’t resist, we went over to the outcropping to watch these waves up close.

This was like being in the middle of a washing machine, quite dramatic.  Here is Gusto, our guide.

Some of you may wonder; what’s this with a driver for a week.  Indeed, this is the ONLY way to get around Bali.  As I mentioned before, traffic is horrible, motorbikes are everywhere and there are no street signs.  No foreigner could ever get around this island on there own.  Plus Gusto does know the better restaurants and sights to see.  And, he always has a “tip” to push out the window to the parking attendants so that we get a good parking place.  And to top it off, it costs no more than if you were to rent a car in Hawaii or Cancun!  Quite a deal.

Also, this is the first time we have seen Muslims.  Indonesia, it is reported, has the most Muslims of any country in the world!  Although Bali is almost 100% Hindu, the rest of Indonesia is almost all Muslim.  Go figure.  But, this is a great place to holiday for all Indonesians.  Here , Tom took a picture of two gals posing for me for their picture.

Our last beach was the “sunset beach”.  Each night, probably 20 restaurants set all their tables on the beach for a seafood dinner.  We just walked the beach but couldn’t resist buying ears of corn from one of the local vendors.  They cook it right there for you; you can choose between spicy or sweet butter.

This week has been quite an experience.  This is the first time Gloria and I have been immersed in the Hindu culture.  We spent 2 weeks in India a couple of years ago, but the part of the country where we worked was primarily Christian.  Also, this form of Hinduism isn’t about Saris and red dots on your forehead, rather it is all about ceremony and offerings.

Wherever you walk, there are the small offerings.  Sidewalks, public temples, home temples, porches, on statues, window sills, etc. And, one doesn’t avoid them, their significance ends after they are placed.  Indeed, during the night, people sweep them all up into piles and the trash men come by in the early morning to take them all away.

We saw endless processions for life; for death.  People are all solemn but very happy.  As I mentioned earlier these people are defined by their actions.  They are what they do.  Their identity is in their performance. 

What a contrast the Gospel is.  All the world’s religions are based on performance.  Judaism is keeping the law.  Islam is obeying the Koran, Buddhism is all about preparation and Karma, Hinduism is ceremony and offerings.  Indeed, much of Christianity is acting right way, believing the right thing.  Or, you are forgiven based on your performance.  The Gospel is the only faith that has this reversed.  You are forgiven first and your performance results.  This is called the Great Reversal, or the Third Way. 

My prayer is that Peace and Grace are yours.

Day 8 Shopping and Eating

People always ask about the food we eat when we travel.  Balinese food can best be described as rice with curry, spices and, depending on your choice, either tofu or meat, frequently wrapped in or on a banana leaf.  Cocoanut and peanut sauces predominate.  We never saw any chopsticks, they eat with spoon and fork. 

Typically, we ate one meal out, usually around 2-3PM, breakfast in the condo, and snacks for dinner.  For breakfast, our focus was on fruit.  We discovered five new ones:  mangostein, rombatune, palmello, water fruit, a new type of cocoanut, and our favorite – snake skin fruit.  Below are pictures of our culinary adventures.

This cocoanut was soft and creamy, not the hard flaky type we are used to.

Gloria and Kathy negotiating for fruit.  Everything demands negotiating!

Our daily morning platter of fruit.

Here I am buying our morning eggs, they come in sacks.

Here is our morning fruit before they are pealed.

Gloria is holding our biggest surprise.  This is an avocado and chocolate smoothie!  Had to try this one, not bad. (They grow on you)

This was a medley I ordered for lunch.   I could ID about half the items.  All good though.

Day 7 Monkey Park

The highlight of the day was the visit to the Monkey Park.  Here amongst three Hindu Temples are around 300 monkeys swinging around.  All very friendly and feedable.  We couldn’t stop taking pictures of them, here are a few.

 

 

This little guy hopped on board with two of his buddies.  His friends hopped off, he stayed for a bit, I took our picture and was showing it to him, when Gloria had us look at her camera for our portrait.

Day 6 Scuba Diving

Bali’s most popular dive is the USS Liberty.  This was a freighter that the Japanese torpedoed in 1942.  Attempts to tow it to a port failed and after it was beached for 20 years, it eventually it sank in 1963 due to earth tremors following a volcanic eruption on Bali.

Tom and Kathy took this picture, they were snorkeling in the area.

Actually is was one of our bests dives ever!  (Alex and Greg – missed you guys!!)  Unfortunately our underwater camera ceased to work when preparing it for this dive, so all we have are memories.  Although visibility was only fair, once we were on and in the wreck the water was very clear.  The type and amount of fish and invertebrates on and around the wreck was staggering.  We saw more new species then on any other dive.  Two highlights:  A 5 ft. Barracuda calls the wreck home.  Due to the number of divers on the Liberty, is is quite comfortable with you swimming to within 2 feet of him.  I have never seen Barracuda’s  2 inch sharp teeth that close before!

Gloria with our guide, (he needed one weight to keep him down, I needed five!)

Also, above the wreck was a school of hundreds of 8-10 inch silver fish schooling.  If you saw Finding Nemo, you remember the fish schools shifting size and direction.  This was that!  We were able to swim up into the school as they moved around us.  Awesome.  Also, many new soft corals, gorgonians, and hydrozoans.  An excellent dive.

These gals were the “porters” for all our equipment. She had a tank and all our weights! Others take two tanks, one on their head another on their shoulder.

Day 5 River Rafting

We are finding that to do anything in Bali requires a one to two hour drive.  Today is no exception.  Our guide has suggested a particular river for rafting, but Gloria and Kathy, after scouring our guide book, felt another option was better and cheaper.  This was a bit of a mistake.  Indeed, what they had found was cheaper, but he was quick to remind us that he had gotten a “special price” for us with his choice.

So, after stopping along the way, turning around, stopping again, then continuing on our route, we went with his choice.  This made him very happy.  Two hours later, we arrive at the put-in point. 

Tom and Kathy have rafted/kayaked for over 30 years.  Indeed, they have even done the Grand Canyon on their own.  And Gloria and I have done our fair share of rafting as well, frequently going with Tom and Kathy.  But, this was a new experience!

Our guide was friendly, but knew little English.  We usually orient about right, left, forward-paddle, back-paddle, holding on, dropping, what to do if you are ejected, etc.  Nothing was discussed.  We walk down to the river and push off.  Boys in the front, (seems a bit bow heavy), girls in the middle and our guide in the back.

I would say this was cross between Disneyland’s Flume ride and the Matterhorn!  The “river” is usually about 10-15 feet wide, and frequently only as wide as the boat!  It looks like it was cut with a backhoe!  If you have every gone down stairs, as a kid, on your bum, that is what it felt like.

We pinballed down the river spinning off the sides, plus we kept going over 5-8 foot drops.  Sometimes forward, others backward.  Tom kept trying to guide the boat from the front, the guide had different ideas.  We were never ejected, but those drops were always a thrill.

Little waterfalls were coming into the river on both sides; our guide was sure to direct the boat under each one.  We spent more time laughing then seriously trying to navigate this E-ticket ride!  This continued for about an hour and a half, we got our money’s worth.

Day 4 Bat Caves to Snorkeling

Our driver appears at 9AM ready for another day of exploring.  This will be our last day for him to make all the decisions as to where we go and what we see.  He seems to have a certain agenda, which is fine, but we sense that wherever we go he always “gets something”, either a free meal or some sort of  a kickback.  That’s OK, except now that we know the lay of the land a bit more, there are certain things we want to see and it is up to him to take us their.

We start our day with a temple close to the ocean, nice as far a temples go, and indeed, many people are marching there for ceremony, but the most interesting part is the 1000’s of bats that congregate on the back cliff of the monastery.  Interesting to watch, but we guess, because they are “holy bats”, no one disturbs them, and they are a mess!

One of the many processions of people going into the temple for ceremony.  They are very happy but take this very seriously.

Next on our itinerary is  a “local village”, interpret that to mean “place to buy overpriced souvenirs”. 

Our driver keeps wanting to take us to cock fights.  We have resisted so far, don’t know if we will succumb.  We see baskets over roosters all around the countryside.  Someone decided to dye these poor guys.

There were numerous homemade Ferris wheels in the village.  These are kid size and  bit rickety, but good for a picture.

Our next stop was a “water park”.  His choice, again.  Nice to walk around here, but not worth the long drive. We are ready to take command of our daily outings.

We end our day with a late lunch and snorkeling at the hotel that our guide is staying at.  I do believe we were the only ones eating there, and he was the only one staying there.  Beautiful location, but very quite.  The recession and political winds have hurt Bali badly.  Extremists have suicide bombed  Bali 5-star hotels a couple of times in the last few years and tourists have stayed away.  (No worries at our hotel.)

Snorkeling was OK.  Warm water, probably 85 degrees, but most of the coral was dead.  As we were leaving, the whole village was coming down to the beach.  We found out that every 30 days local Hindus go through a cleansing ceremony in the ocean.  Great fun for families.  A good reason to go swimming with all your clothes on!