Ubud and Rest

Ubud, one of Bali's cultural centers, is set among steep ravines and rice paddies. We spent our days here walking around the town's various galleries and shops. Most sold traditional Balinese wood-carvings or masks worn in the various traditional dances. Scarves and the omnipresent buddha images were also popular.



Culture aside, the real reason we wanted to come to Ubud was to eat Babi Guling. Balinese suckling pig is stuffed with herbs and spices, basked in coconut milk, and slowly cooked for 5 hours over an open fire. When we first learned of this swine sensation on Anthony Bordain's No Reservations, we added Bali to the trip itinerary. Like Tony, we headed to Warung Ibu Oka, to give it a try at $2/plate. The meat was moist and spiced perfectly, and the crispy skin was sweet from the coconut milk. This is a great meal not to be missed when in Bali.



Following our meal, we walked down the street to get a look at the kitchen. Within the walls of a traditional balinese home, two pigs were slowly being roasted. A proud cook gave us a tour, describing how that day he'd prepared 6 pigs.



In the afternoon, we walked through the town's Monkey Forest, home to 200 macaque monkeys. Steve got a close encounter with one that tried to climb up his leg from behind. One temple within the forest had an Indiana Jones vibe to it, but overall the park was a fairly small place, that basically just offered some monkey viewing.



Following a few days in Ubud, we headed back south to Seminyak to relax away our last days on Bali and in Indonesia.

Our biggest accomplishment, so to speak, was a long beach walk and ultimate visit to Tanah Lot. This temple, which means "Land in the Middle of the sea," attracts a large tourist crowd for its picturesque setting.



One adventure that we should mention was a disappointing trip to the nearby island of Nusa Lembongan. Because Lonely Planet dubbed it as the "bali people dream of but never find" we hoped it might get us back to something like we'd seen on the Gili islands. To get here we took a small public speed boat that ended up being one of our most terrifying transportation adventures yet. Powered by 4 engines, the small craft bounced from wave to wave across a churning sea. Each time the boat's hull crashed down, the deafening thud made you wonder if everything was still in one piece. At times, you could look out and actually see long rolling waves that were above eye-level. It was a harrowing experience to say the least. Surely, we figured, the island must be worth it!

We were wrong. So wrong in fact, that it wouldn't surprise me if "Lembongan" translated to "the island of smelly seaweed". Seaweed, along with some surfing, seemed to be island's focus and every inch of beach or path was taken up by it. We accepted our mistake and headed back to Bali the next morning when the waves had calmed.

Our final impression of Bali is that it's great for surfing and resorts, but it didn't have the best beaches or towns. The island is fairly congested with traffic and we found ourselves having to take taxis nearly everwhere. We do have to say that we got a bit lazy and didn't see all the island had to offer, so perhaps places like Lovina in the north or other hidden spots might prove us wrong. Nevertheless, we're exicted to move on and continue our trip.

One month left and we're mixing things up a bit. More to come.

Southern Bali

Our first stop back on the island of Bali was Sanur.  This beach isn't anything spectacular, but it happens to be the home to a kite-surfing school we were both interested in.  We spoke with the instructor and were told that he'd take us out as soon as the wind showed up.  Unfortunately, the wind never showed up, but we did manage to fit in a few things in the surrounding area.

We booked a driver and headed south to the tip of Bali.  Our first stop was Padang Padang, a beautiful cliff-lined beach popular with surfers.

We headed to a platform atop one of these boulders for a view of some great surfers and some even better wipe-outs.

We continued onwards to Ulu Watu, a temple at the southern-most tip of Bali.  The temple itself can't compare to some of those we've already seen, but it is popular for its dramatic views and monkey population.

As you arrive, you are warned by scores of people to remove any and everything that a monkey might be enticed to grab: sunglasses, hats, purses, necklaces, etc.  This proved accurate as we saw people in tug-of-war matches against the monkeys.  One monkey managed to grab someone's camera and carried it away to a high tree limb. Many of the guides threw nuts and bananas at it, which eventually it went for and inturn dropped the camera.  This one was perched high over the waves.

Following our tour of the temple, we attended a traditional Kecak dance.  The performance consists of several elaborated dressed characters interacting within a circle of about 50-100 men chanting "cak" and throwing up their arms.   Their actions depict the Hindu story, the Ramayana, which to extremely simplify it, is about a princess being rescued from an evil king by a prince with the help of a monkey.

We enjoy it, although we would have opted for an abridged version.  Fifty minutes of guys going "cak-cak-cak" can be a bit much for a first-timer.  The freakiest part is the way in which the female dancers are able to bend their fingers backwards. 

The following day we walked along three of Bali's most well known beaches. We began in the over-developed and backpacker-haven of Kuta.  This should be avoided by anyone heading to Bali and as the waves are filled with trash, and the town looks like a strip mall.  We continued onwards to Legian, which is little more than a buffer-zone to the higher-class Seminyak.  All of the beaches are known for surfing and boards line the beach.

We had planned to meet up with friends from New York here, but due to a last minute injury they were unable to join us. Get better Jay!  We did take a stop to look at their planned hotel, the Oberoi, which we'd highly recommend. It was simply amazing.

We continued walking through the botique filled streets of Seminyak, and just as Steve was about to collapse of boredom, stopped into a Moroccan restaurant for dinner.

We left southern Bali and headed just a bit north to Ubud, disappointed we missed out on kite-surfing, but excited for some famous local food.

Gili Islands

Our newest home is Gili Meno, a tiny tiny island that lies two hours from Bali, surrounded by turquoise waters and beautiful reefs. We chose Meno, the smallest or the three Gilis, because it is the least developed, which is really saying something as none of the islands have paved roads or motorized transportation. Getting here was another saga, but only involved two flights (one only 20 minutes!), a taxi, one boat, and a horse-drawn carriage! Here Steve is towards the end of the journey ready to make our boat crossing in a typical bali-style boat.



Once we arrived, we jumped in a cidomo (horse-drawn carriage) for a ride across the island. While this seemed convenient at the time, it turns out that its a lot like being pulled around in a wheelbarrow. We both clung to the sides of the cart on a steep incline as the horse pulled us around and the driver jumped on and off to keep him going. It wasn't the most relaxing ride and we were both happy for it to end.



On our first full day, we took to the shores for the island's excellent snorkeling. We spotted a sea turtle, a black lion fish, among thousands of other fish.



Later that day, we took an hour-long walk around the island's entire perimeter (we told you it was tiny!). Lindsey was psyched to be here as you can see. We both thought it was more beautiful than anything we'd seen in Thailand, and wish we'd gotten here sooner.



In the evening, we layed on the beach, far away from civilization and gazed at a star-filled sky. It was the "Bali" both of us had imagined.

Our second day, Steve went scuba diving in the morning at Sunset Reef. He was most excited about seeing cuttlefish, which are able to change the color and texture of their skin in order to camouflage into their surroundings.



He also spotted a white-tip reef shark in the distance, a red lion-fish, some clown-fish (Nemos) hiding in the soft coral, more blue-spotted rays, and a moray-eel.



In the afternoon we napped and sat on our bungalow porch under a light rain.

Our third day on Meno, we headed for a snorkeling site on the other side of the islands know for its friendly turtle population. We didn't understand exactly what this meant until one was headed right for us. We got a bit nervous and started to swim away which prompted the turtle to look at us as if we were crazy. Seems like we could have had a much closer encounter (touching it) if we were a bit calmer and knew what we were in for.

The afternoon was spent reading on the beach, and preparing plans to move onto Bali, proper. More to come...