Having a ball in Bali

Feb  17

We slept in since we were staying in town today. After breakfast on the balcony (hey, you have to admit it is special to dine outside in good weather), we walked to the Sacred Forest Monkey Sanctuary which is filled with aggressive grey macaques. We were warned to not show our teeth while smiling or make eye contact. They take offensive. Sensitive little buggers.. There were hundreds of them if not thousands. I love monkeys because they have behaviors that are similar to ours.   

The complex is completely open, no cages here and there were lots of tourists, domestic and otherwise. I watched as some people let the macaques crawl on their heads. Okay sometimes I am a tight ass. All I could think about was lice, fleas and rabies because we watched monkeys constantly scratching themselves and grooming one another by searching their coats  to pull off…what…lice, fleas, ticks??? I usually think of consequences so there you have a little insight to why I am a bit hesitant to allow wild things on my body. Later in the trip I had an offer to allow a python to crawl on me. You have to be kidding!  Who knew that monkeys went swimming?

We stopped by a coffee shop for a refreshing iced coffee. Our order was two Balinese coffees, no milk, one with sugar. So the waiter brought one with milk and one without. He brought me another cup of coffee. 

Next we visited Museum Puri Lukisan, a large museum filled with Balinese art spanning from the 16^th century cloth paintings to the sales gallery of current works. These were representational paintings of village life mostly in the finest detail imaginable. It rivaled the Northern Renaissance movement in Europe from the same period. If I had room I may have considered it. I am not that wild about representational art but these were truly amazing in how small the details were. Sadly I could not find any reproduction postcards

Right across the street was a French bakery that served a great lunch of fresh bread with veggies, cheese and béchamel sauce for filling. It was a nice break.from local fare. We topped it off with an apple crumble for dessert. Decadence is good from time to time.

We rested in our room, went out for a Balinese couples massage, more decadence and back to the room to shower and rest before dinner. We went to a restaurant that is owned and operated by Swiss and Indonesia foundations. They use the profits to help needy Indonesians with health and medical care and serve 30,000 people a year. It was crowded and we waited for a seat at a counter. The fish was delicious.

While waiting we walked around the neighborhood as we were off the main drag. We found a little shop selling batiks and I bought one that is very plain to add to our small textile collection. I watched a video after we got back to Thailand on how batiks are made and was floored at how many processes the fabric goes through. Because my batik has only a few colors, black, chocolate and cream I would imagine it didn’t require so many steps.

Feb 18

This is our final day. After breakfast Alit drove us to Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, a Hindu Buddhist temple northwest of Ubud. The temple is built on the lake and is an iconic image of Bali. The temple was founded in the 17^th century and is dedicated to the goddess of waters. Pilgrimages and ceremonies are held here to ensure that there is a supply of water for farmers all over Bali. There were two structures but they were not accessible other than viewing them from the water’s edge.

The highlight was when five young Muslim girls approached us and said they were on a school assignment and wanted to practice their English by asking us questions.  What fun and what a sweet group of giggling girls. Each wore the traditional hijab.  Then about five minutes later we were approached by five or so Muslim boys with the same request. We said we had just spent about 15 minutes with girls and they asked if we would take five for them and we said of course.  More fun. They were so nervous and so polite. Their teacher approached and asked if we could allow a photo with her and the boys. Of course. Afterwards we all shook hands and I commended the teacher. I told her that her students were extremely polite and very sweet. The experience reminded us of how our planet must learn to appreciate our differences. It is the only way to peace as far as I am concerned.

From here we headed further up the mountains to go to a UNESCO site in the Gunung Batukau area. The rice fields here have received the UNESCO World Heritage status in recognition of the ancient rice growing culture. “Subak is the water management (irrigation) system for paddy fields on Bali island, Indonesia which was developed in the 9th century. For the Balinese, irrigation is not simply providing water for the plant's roots, but water is used to construct a complex, pulsed artificial ecosystem.” We walked through some rice fields after our Balinese lunch in an open air restaurant overlooking the rice paddies. It was a glorious day and temperature was so comfortable because of the mountain air.

 

Next we headed west when the temperature changed from 19 degrees Celsius to a roaring hot 30 degrees. (66 to 86 in Fahrenheit). Add in the humidity factor and I’ll just say it is stifling. Hot, damn hot! Here we visited a temple in the ocean, Pura Tanah Lot. It is the most photographed temple in Bali but we liked the lake temple more. Apparently it is most popular at sunset but we read that the traffic was AWFUL at that time of day so we had no interest in waiting a few hours for that.

Every where we went we saw recycling via motorcycle. Drivers would carry huge loads of cardboard, plastic, metal, etc. We rarely saw litter in Bali which was refreshing to say the least.

Back at the hotel we decided to return to the Three Monkeys restaurant for another fine meal.

Feb 19

We got up earlier than usual for a 7:30 breakfast and 8:15 departure. Alit had said we only needed 90 minutes to get to the airport and Ron asked him to add another 15 in case of traffic. Away we went. It was a pleasant drive until we hit Denpasar. Crap, it was bumper to bumper for miles, making all three of us anxious. The airline requested that we get there three hours before departure and Alit said two hours was adequate. It took until 10:20 to get to the airport. We dashed out of the car, paid Alit and ran inside fearing the worse. We got up to the passport checkpoint and Ron realized he had left his backpack with his camera, airline tickets home etc in the car. He had already given away his SIM card so we had no way to call Alit. We begged the guard to call him. He got on the walkie talkie and told us to go to Customer Service. We ran over to the counter and were told to go to the office. Ron was crazy with anxiety and didn’t understand. I shouted, ‘hurry this way’ as I saw the office door. The person inside called Alit and he returned. Thank god but we were still fearful about being late. We had to go through the first checkpoint, then to the Air Asia counter, then passport control and security. We were frantic. When we got to Air Asia there was one couple in front of us but they had stopped to fiddle with their luggage. After pausing a minute we went up to the counter as a rep was available waiting for us. The guy in line went nuts, and cursing ensuring with shouting to match between Ron and the stranger. I came unglued and intervened; placing my hand on each man I shouted even louder, “Stop this right now”. I suggested the upset guy go first since shouting wasn’t getting any of us closer to boarding.  A few more snide remarks ensued. When we got to the counter the wide eyed rep asked Ron if he was okay. How embarrassing. Lucky for us there were no long lines with the next several checkpoints. We went to the boarding gate to learn our plane had not yet arrived and of course, guess who was there. I decided it only way to move forward was to apologize. We were in the wrong after all. As I approached him he looked away. I started with ‘we owe you an apology. We were frantic’. I then told him what had happened. I said ‘my husband doesn’t act this way but he was very anxious about his backpack and missing the plane’. He quickly apologized and said he didn’t act this way either and he had also been anxious because of the traffic and how long it had taken to get a taxi. He said he wanted to apologize to Ron and walked across the way and they shook hands. They sat two rows behind us and there was no tension. YAY!

We arrived in Bangkok late afternoon and were met by our friend Dr. Krishrat. He met him through his daughter Auem. Auem was an exchange student about ten years ago in Tigard and lived with Nattawan, the person who owns the house we stay in when we are in Thailand. We try to get together over a meal each visit. Each year Ron tries to pay the bill and each year they do not allow it. Last year we were visiting after dinner with Krishrat, Doungchai and Om their son. Ron asked if they were ever going to allow him to pay for a meal and simultaneously they all said ‘No’. So this year Ron didn’t even try. Krishrat took us to a restaurant on the river where they serve river shrimp which we had never heard of. OMG they are huge, barbequed and served butter flied. They were bigger than our palms and fabulous. We also had a fish smothered in a red tomato based sauce. What a fantastic meal. The evening ended with Dr Krishrat taking us to our friend Leslie’s apartment.

Bali was a great trip and I am glad we went. I am really glad it was low season. The rain was never an issue for us. Neither of us feels the need to return. So many places and so little time.