Bali (June '07)

Bali

For those of you who get this document and don’t want to read the ridiculously long day by day journal of our trip, I shall now attempt the nearly impossible and recap 16 days in Bali in a mere paragraph. This has been one of those special vacations that calls into question ones own reality. Bali is such an amalgamation of opposites that it is almost disorienting, yet all three of us found ourselves adapted to the unique rhythm here within a couple of days. There is incredibly beautiful scenery, which is punctuated with an endless array of temples, shrines and third world sanitation issues. Walking down random, off the beaten track side streets and “gang,” one can see people lazing in a shanty that is covered by a meticulously fabricated woven roof, next to a rice paddy that is next to an expensive villa, which is attached to an art gallery that abuts a little store that sells nothing more than cigarettes, beer and soda, and has three teens playing Nintendo inside. There are strange, unexpected and wonderful juxtapositions around every bend. It has left me pondering this culture, my own, and those that are the fabric of Hawaii, leaving me with no definitive revelations about any of it. So, as I lay in bed next to Miles, watching the ceiling fan spin round and round in our $60 per night hotel room (breakfast for three included), here at the amazing and indescribable Hotel Tjampuhan and Spa, I asked him; “Miles, what does it all mean.” He replied, “what does what all mean?” I said, “life, what’s it all about?” Miles sat silent for about 30 seconds, staring at the spinning fan, and finally said, “It’s all about nature.” I then asked him “how do you know?” He replied “you just have to watch, Dad.” Well, I can’t argue with that. So for my friends and family who may care to read about our Balinese vacation, the following is a long-winded synopsis of some of what I watched and some of what we did.

We arrived in Bali today after two long Japan Airline flights from Hawaii. The plane landed in Denpasar around midnight, where 99 percent of the people arriving were either Japanese or Australian. Naturally, the airport personnel assumed we were Australian and insisted on trying to move us to the baggage claim area where all the Aussies were, rather than the JAL area where we saw our bags going round and round. Somewhere in the interim I took Miles to the restroom, where I was surprised to see live fish aquariums above each of the urinals, as well as plumeria blossoms on each fixture. I did not realize it at the time, but this sort of attention to detail was merely a bit of foreshadowing to what takes place all across this strange and wonderful island.

After securing our luggage, and amidst a chaotic crowd of tourists, we successfully arranged for our transportation to our beachfront hotel. The first visual that struck me as we departed the airport was the sight of what appeared to be a street sweeping vehicle that was, in fact, not sweeping the street. Rather, it was a flame throwing vehicle that was roasting the rubbish, toasting the trash, and grilling the garbage that lay in the gutters at the edge of the road. I thought it was a pretty damn cool machine, though I suppose life in Bali would be generally better and more sanitary if this interesting devise was not necessary. The other interesting part of our initial Balinese taxi ride was the fact that there was a mass of humanity still awake, still riding scooters and still driving cars in some seemingly random improvisation that was apparently governed by tacit intuitive consent of all the midnight commuters. In reality, it is not random at all, it is just opposite from what we are used to. Merging drivers supposedly have the right of way and when you add that to our habit of driving on the opposite side of the road, well, it all looks insane. And of course, the level of performance we witnessed on the roads was merely a prologue to what we would see in the days to come.

Our first day was to be a day of relaxation and recuperation from the long flight, and finding the lay of the land, as it were. We awoke at the Legian Beach Hotel to the smell of a thick smoke, both sweet and pungent, that seems to linger in the air most everywhere. I am convinced that it is a combination of burning rubbish, mixing with the incense that accompanies the infinite number of prayer offerings that are placed EVERYWHERE throughout each day. These canang, are placed inside and outside temples and shrines, on street corners, on the beach, outside businesses, in the street, on the curb, on the front of scooters, on dashboards….literally everywhere. The offerings themselves are meticulously crafted little artworks. There is a palm frond basket that contains flowers, crackers, candy, rice and a stick of burning incense. These canang are offered throughout the day and one literally cannot walk for more than a few steps without encountering several of them. Apparently the gods receive the essence of this offering instantly, so the fact that many are run over by cars, stepped on by tourists and eaten by dogs and squirrels is inconsequential. It is a display of devotion unlike anything I have ever witnessed because it is literally a non-stop ritual throughout each day. And for those of you who have never been, I won’t get into the whole layout of a village relative to a temple, because I am no expert and don’t get it myself….just suffice it to say that no matter where you are, you cannot walk more than 30 seconds without encountering a family temple, or at the very least a shrine of some sort, all of which are constantly engulfed in the aroma of incense and burning coconut husks. Anyway, after enjoying a great breakfast buffet at the hotel, with all the Germans, Japanese and Aussies on holiday and amidst this new aroma, we decided to meander across the beach walk to check out the surf. Gwen was immediately approached by a man with a story. As the story unfolded, I could see that “timeshare” was going to be the final chapter of his story. Our relaxing morning turned into a free taxi ride and three hour tour of the destination resort area of Nusa Dua, where we were to have a free breakfast and listen to a free presentation designed to outline the many benefits of a not-so-free timeshare. As it turned out, the place was awesome and a great value, for one inclined to the world of timeshare, which we are not. After returning to the hotel room, and while changing into our beach attire, Miles actually got to see a brief portion of Scooby Doo in the official language, Bahasa Indonesia. The show was interrupted when it was time for Islam to cater to its faithful, and this was the case for most every station. Even though Bali is primarily Hindu, all the stations emanate from Jakarta, which is primarily Muslim…thus, the regular asides for Muslim prayer. We finally made it to the pool on day one and I have to say, it is about as perfect of a pool as I have seen. It is surrounded by tropical foliage, beautiful sculpture, lovely shrines, and is fronted by the immense stretch of Kuta/Legian/Seminyak beach, which features a number of fun surf breaks, depending upon the tide and the shifting sandbar. The attention to detail in the resort, and everywhere, is unsurpassed. The truth of the matter is that there is no way one can describe it all; it simply has to be experienced. We ended the day by dining beachfront at the hotel restaurant and watching a Ramayana Dance. The costumes were fabulous and the hand gestures the young ladies employ are quite the opposite of the soft hula hands we are accustomed to seeing in Hawaii. They made their fingers bend in ways that appear to be physiologically painful, if not impossible. It was a beautiful dance and the music was awesome. In fact, as I listened to the music, it reminded me of the rhythm of the Balinese streets. In the road, it is loud and frantic and full of traffic. On the sidewalks, it is a bit less crazy, but still frenetic. Step into a store or a café and it can be suddenly peaceful, as the back of the store opens out onto a patio overlooking a rice paddy. The music is much the same, as it weaves and ranges from peaceful and subdued into a wild and orchestrated musical mayhem. Very cool.

Day two began with a nice walk on the beach, as we were up before the proverbial crack of dawn. In addition to the requisite pool time for Miles, this was our first day of braving the streets for a bit of shopping. In Kuta and Legian, shopping is a full contact sport when you factor in the hordes of people who have something to offer. As with any third world country, everyone has something to sell as they try to eek out a living. I decided it would be an interesting experiment to see what sort of reaction I’d get if I were to wear a football player’s uniform with full-on helmet and pads as I walked the streets and alleys of this area. Without such a uniform available, we quickly adapted to the shopping dance by learning to say “no, thank you” in both Balinese and Bahasa Indonesia. We survived the full contact shopping of Kuta and Legian, on our way to Seminyak, where the shopping is much more in tune with our western conditioning; some stores actually put price tags on their inventory and haggling is, perhaps, less of an option. There is a vast array of wonderful stores in Seminyak and we enjoyed the relative calm of this area, after the exhausting gauntlet of hawkers on our walk to get there. I must mention, that after a couple of days, one gets used to smiling and saying no over and over again. Still, the break from this routine that Seminyak provided was welcome. We dined, on the recommendation of our friends Tony and Beth (Veteran Bali Travelers), at Ristorante Italiano on the beach in Seminyak, and it was terrific. In the evening we sat beachfront, drinking Bintang and watching the sunset. The Australian Tom Cruise and his lanky girlfriend were there as well; he in his short baby blue spandex swim shorts and she in her itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow (polkadotless) bikini. Sunset was lovely and it is a time of day when everyone seems to congregate at the beach to have a cold one, kick a soccer ball and try to make a few final sunglasses or watch sales, with less of a sense of urgency, and at “sunset special prices.” It’s as if everyone is exhausted when the sun gets low in the sky, both merchants and tourists, and everyone takes a deep breath before packing it in for the day. At this point, for my younger club-hungry friends who may read this, I have to admit that the thought of going clubbing never ever really entered my mind once we arrived and fell into the riddim’ of a married couple on holiday with a 7 year old. While I did check out Ku De Ta on one of my beach runs, I never made it there after sunset. Sorry Erik and Elowyn, you’ll have to make the trip yourselves and report back.

( By the way, in addition to “special sunset prices,” there are also special morning prices, mid-morning prices, cloudy day prices, sunny day prices, first Tuesday of the week prices, your shoelace is untied and that’s good luck prices, lunchtime prices, dinner time prices, you-look-like-a-stupid-tourist-who-will-buy-anything-for-any-reason-just-so-long-as-I-say-“special prices” prices. )

Day three was more pool time and a trip to the temple at Ulu Watu. The drive there was more traffic insanity. I am still amazed at the boldness of motorists here. Everyone in a car is Mario Andretti. Many more are lunatics on a 125cc motorbike with a kid in the lap and a woman riding side saddle on the back, dodging and weaving in and out of traffic like a batu crazed motorist on the Pali Highway on Maui, but with an additional 3.5 million humans to avoid. Their skills are commendable. Miles loved the Ulu Watu temple as there were monkeys everywhere. He even had one yanking on the sash he had to wear in order to respectfully enter the temple. And of course, even after the warnings of our driver and the guide books, Gwen managed to have her brand new Dior knock-off sunglasses swiped by an opportunistic macaque. The views from around the temple were amazing, the surf was epic and the amount of trash was ridiculous. But again, this is just my middle class western sentiment. It does not matter if it’s Jamaica, Bali, Chile or any “projects” in a major U.S. city, wherever there are people struggling to get by, where one tosses one’s rubbish is a tertiary concern, and that was apparent here as well.

Day four was another day of pool and shopping, with a great lunch at Queens Tandoor (www.queenstandoor.com), another Tony Novak-Clifford recommendation. It was exceptional Indian food right on the main drag through Seminyak, where we could sit outside and watch the tide of humanity zip up and down the street. Back at the hotel, we enjoyed sunset at Abdul’s on the beach. Abdul, and many other enterprising folks, set up these makeshift “bars” on the beach. Really, they are just big coolers full of beer and soda, with a sign or banner identifying the vendor. You walk up and order a cold beer ($1) and Abdul sets out plastic chairs, with foam cushions, and a plastic table for you, right there in the sand. A bowl full of garlic peanuts to keep you thirsty, and you are all set to enjoy another sunset in Bali. Miles especially enjoyed this part of our routine as much as anything. He played chess and Australian football with some Aussies, helped Abdul reel in one of his kites and raced around in the sand as Gwen and I downed a few Bintang and snapped a few photos. We also enjoyed the mild irony of being tourists from a nation that fears terrorism, downing brews purchased from our Muslim bartender Abdul, in bomb-nervous Bali; a Hindu island in the midst of the most populous Muslim nation in the world.

Day five was epic and exhausting. It was a bump bumpity bumpalicious drive with Adi to two different temples. The first was about a two hour haul out through the countryside, past countless purveyors of stone, wood, fabric, beads and other goods. It took us through the famously terraced rice fields and up a foggy mountain road. I really enjoyed the drive, in spite of the numerous head-on collision narrow escapes that reminded me of my mini-bus ride from Montego Bay to Kingston, Jamaica. The key is to enjoy the scenery and not look straight ahead, unless you truly enjoy playing chicken with oncoming traffic. The second temple, Tanah Lot, was back down the mountain and on the coast. It is the temple that I had seen in many photos of Bali. Set on an islet just off the coast, it really is a remarkable site. On the way back, we stopped at another Tony and Beth recommended eatery called Café Warisan (www.cafewarisan.com). Again, I was struck by the polyrhythmic nature of this place when we exited the insanely busy main street (after clearing a security checkpoint) and parked in a small lot in front of the Café. Once inside, there was a totally peaceful courtyard overlooking a few terraces of rice paddies. It was silent, in spite of being maybe 40 yards from the lunatic traffic just outside. These abrupt changes in sites and sounds seem to emerge constantly and unexpectedly throughout each day, and I am sure this is part of the appeal of this place. Lunch at Café Warisan was phenomenal. I had a terrific risotto and a couple of Mojitos. Gwen had a latte with her baked tomato/pumpkin/goat cheese tort, and Miles had a fabulous cheeseburger in his unconscious rebellion against Hindu culture. The place was great. Sunset at Abdul’s again.

Day six was more pool time, a surf outing for me (board rental was $6 for two hours), lunch #2 at Queen’s Tandoor, a massage for Gwen ( I had one on Father’s Day….1.5 hours…$30) and sunset at Abdul’s.

Day seven……more pool time……..Miles and I surfed and he caught some great rides to compensate him for a couple of Indian Ocean poundings he took on unfriendly waves. Lunch at Ristorante Italia and sunset at Abdul’s again. Some who read this might have noticed by now that we have only eaten dinner once thus far. Our routine has consisted of a big breakfast, followed by whatever activity we partake in, a super late lunch, sunset and beers on the beach. Bed at 8pm. It’s a bit sad being middle aged and boring, but the program seems to be working well for all three of us.

Today we spent a couple of final hours in Legian, shopping and doing pool time prior to checking out and catching a ride with Adi to Ubud. Along the way we stopped for some silver shopping in Celuk, where Gwen was unable to contain herself and spent far too much money, justifying it with the mantra that it is a “once in a lifetime” vacation. After the shopping, Adi dropped us off at the Hotel Tjampuhan, which was recommended to us by my friend, Christopher Blunt. We checked in and were immediately blown away by the setting of this resort. For those of you familiar with Maui and the hike into Waimoku Falls, just imagine a resort built into the rain forest cliffs overlooking the Oheo Valley. Then imagine that this resort was built 75 years ago with multiple terraces and grottos and sculptures and shrines, and that every stone has been carved into the form of a Hindu god or a monkey or frog, and that all the sculptures are now wearing a comfortable layer of rich green moss and that they all overlook a 900 year old temple that rests on the other side of a river that flows beneath two secluded and serene swimming pools that are serviced by bars that have been ornately carved and are covered with alang alang thatch and which overlook a magical and mystical Spa, whose entrance is down a staircase that is covered in trickling water and leads into the reception area in the hillside cave/grotto. The cave itself is ornately carved with so many figures of Yakshi, monkeys, snakes, frogs, foliage and other mammals and reptiles that it is truly dumbfounding. The spa features an amazing whirlpool and cold plunge pools that are, in turn, surrounded with sculpture and carved stone. All this, along with the open air massage rooms overlook a river valley and a huge temple on the other side of the river. Imagine all that and you may have a smidgen of a sense of what this place is like. But not quite. Because surrounding the resort are fine dining restaurants that overlook the rice fields of peasant farmers which are in turn overlooked by expatriate villas. All of this is linked together by a seemingly unending series of paths and trails and interconnected alleyways that one can meander down, and get lost doing so, eventually re-emerging back on a bustling main thoroughfare that is resplendent with art and artisans working in every conceivable medium and style. It is, quite honestly, a mind bending experience for the uninitiated “bule” (boo-lay) from the USA. We ate lunch at the famous Naughty Nuri’s after walking around rice paddies and following numerous trails past local homes and expat villas.

Day number nine was another dream day for Miles, as the Monkey forest was on the agenda for today. We awoke and had our first breakfast in the Hotel Tjampuhan. I know it is sounding redundant, but the abundance of art and craftsmanship and artisanship and attention to detail everywhere is almost exhausting as one attempts to take it all in. The hotel restaurant is just another example of this. Ornate carvings in stone and wood abound, and the view out over the valley is breathtaking. After breakfast, we caught a hotel shuttle to the entrance to the monkey forest, where there is a population of about 300 macaque monkeys living. Gwen was careful to tuck away her authentic Maui Jim sunglasses so that they did not end up being a toy for a monkey, as her faux Dior shades were in Ulu Watu. Gwen and Miles both had monkeys crawling on them while feeding them bananas. I choose to keep primates at a distance. So, many of you will see photos of both Gwen and Miles monkeying around with the monkeys. I am personally above all that. The best part of this place is watching all the other tourists who are poor listeners, as they get freaked out when a monkey jumps on them, steals their entire bunch of bananas and makes them scream bloody murder at the surprise attack thievery. It’s quite entertaining. After the forest we walked back through town, stopping for lunch at Beth’s highly recommended Café Luna. It was merely another fantastic restaurant. Miles has had more soda in one week than he has been allowed in his entire life thus far. We figure if we get to drink beer at lunch and dinner, he can have a vacation treat as well. Actually, neither of us had beer for lunch at Café Luna. Gwen had a turmeric, honey and lime concoction while I had a freshly squeezed lime ginger ale. Both were delicious.
Can’t recall what we had to eat exactly, but it was all yummy and unique. We actually ate dinner for the second time in nine days at a restaurant we stumbled upon called Toko Toko. It is a bit off the main road, and like everywhere else, tastefully decorated, inexpensive and delicious.

Day 10 is Spa Day. Now, before I get into the Spa treatments and such, I have to take a moment for a hospitality industry aside, for my colleagues and bosses who might actually read this. HBP. Hotel Business Positioning. I do not know if the Hotel Tjampuhan has ever used the term HBP, but they certainly know what their positioning is. The oldest hotel in Ubud, this place is all about “pull through.” Their logo is a red hibiscus and one cannot escape its presence. When we checked in, there were red hibiscus blossoms on the stairs up to our room, on our bed, in our bathroom, in a vase. Each day, the staff gathers blossoms and places them in nearly every one of the hundreds of sculptures around the property. Many of the sculptures even have a tiny puka drilled in them to accommodate the blossom. They even go around the property and poke holes in the leaves of other plants and insert a hibiscus blossom into that puka. There are red hibiscus ti plants and elephant ear and ferns and …you name it. The Spa is full of blossoms. On the bank on the other side of the river they lay hibiscus blossoms out in and artful display that can be seen from the massage rooms. Again, the attention to detail is phenomenal and sensational.

The Tjampuhan Spa itself is the most unique I have ever seen. It is so markedly different from the spas we see in Hawaii that I can’t begin to compare them. It is just a different experience entirely. Gwen and I booked an all day spa package that was $105. We added Miles on for $6. This allowed us access to the facilities from 9am-9pm and included, for each of us, a two hour treatment and a great three course lunch in the outdoor Spa Café overlooking the river valley. So, let’s rewind one more time and now imagine again, a cavernous grotto in the midst of a rain forest, on the side of a steep gulch, overlooking a moderately flowing stream. Now imagine that the walls of this grotto have been adorned with infinitely intricate and extensive stone carvings. The carvings surround a hot bubbling Jacuzzi and a chilly plunge pool. From both of these pools and inside the grotto, one looks out over the river valley and across the stream to an ornate Hindu Temple. Just below the pools, there is a staircase that leads to the open air massage rooms, also overlooking the stream, the banks of which have been adorned with red hibiscus. This description is a pale and lame attempt to describe the setting in which we each had our treatments. The two hour treatment was a wickedly deep one hour massage, followed by a body scrub, followed by a yogurt rub, followed by a fragrant bath in a tub full of flower blossoms. All of this was taking place open air, across from the temple, perhaps in view of a local fisherman or two……and if I end up on the internet, naked and covered in yogurt, well, it was worth it. The sound of the stream babbling below me, the unfamiliar fragrance of the massage oil and the intensity of the massage itself made for an out of body experience. It was fabulous. Afternoon was spent relaxing and typing this and shopping for a Ganesha tee-shirt for Miles, who loves the elephant-faced god of good fortune.

Tuesday June 26th. Today we walked a hefty distance to amazingly extensive botanical gardens. They were wonderful, but the walk was the real treat. All along the road, people were preparing for the Galengan festival that is taking place tomorrow. It is supposed to be one of the two or three most important festivals of the year, in a place that has many throughout the year. We saw lots of men working at decorating 40-60 foot tall stalks of bamboo, which we were told represent the mountain and the temple. Not sure what the entire festival is about, but hope to learn more tomorrow. It’s supposed to be quite a show. On the walk back to the hotel, I helped a couple of men erect this huge bamboo creation on the side of the road, so it’s only appropriate I decode it’s meaning more fully before we leave. We had lunch in Ubud at the Bali Buddha café, another swim in the scenic monkey pool, dinner at Toko Toko again, and now it’s back to the room to meet our 8pm bedtime. Oh yes, one last comment on the Bali Buddha café; thus far, we have only run into two groups of Americans on vacation…..a couple from New York and several ladies from Houston and North Carolina. I suppose it was inevitable that we would eventually stumble across a café where Americans gather, and the Bali Buddha was it. Though we didn’t interact with anyone other than our Balinese waiter, we did overhear a few conversations in this hippy café. It could have been Boulder, Berkeley, Portland or Maui. “Your dosha requires that you eat only macrobiotic dishes that have been blessed by forest fairies and have been sprinkled with kindness, while being prepared with a pure, loving and meditating heart.” Sounds good to me….can I have that banana crème pie now, please. And this aside reminds me, we also walked by an art gallery today whose logo is the in yin yang symbol, with the following words; “I’m Yang.” Clever.

(Miles composed the Bin-Tang-Tong Song)

Galengan, day 12 of our stay. This is the big festival that requires we all wear our sarong as we cruise the streets of Ubud. Everywhere we go, people are dressed up in their festival finest. It is primarily the women who are carrying massive quantities of food and offerings in wonderfully woven baskets atop their heads. We wandered several side streets, checking out all the sights and enjoyed a nice late lunch at Café de Artistes. We had thoughts of going back to town for the evening portion of the celebration but it is now pouring like it’s a monsoon. It’s nice to chill in the room and just take a load off the feet for awhile.

Day 13……..continued rain. Every staircase and sidewalk is now a waterfall or stream tributary. We made the 38 second walk to breakfast and were drenched by the time we got there. Borrowed an umbrella from the front desk and one of those massive woven rice farmer hats (name unknown) that looks like an upside down wok….and took a walk wearing my wok. Gwen shopped a bit, Miles splashed in the running water at every possible opportunity. Had another late lunch at Café Luna and bought Miles a $1.00 dvd of Peter Pan for the evening entertainment. Pretty mellow and uneventful day as we gear up for tomorrow’s trip to ride elephants and go to the reptile zoo. It feels like we are sort of winding down in preparation for the inevitable end to this super cool vacation. We have two more nights here in Ubud, and one long day before catching a 1am flight to Japan on Monday. Trying not to think about all the work that is awaiting me in Wailea, but it is definitely on the horizon and now that is there, I’m sort of mentally preparing for the onslaught of email I will have to tackle, since doing so here proved to be next to impossible. I think the last time I was away from a job for this long was when I joined up with team Havlick for the Aconcagua trip……twelve years ago. That is far too long between lengthy vacations methinks. I’m only going to wait 10 years until my next one.

I have to mention what a super trooper Miles has been thus far. We have dragged him all over this island, made him walk countless kilometers, endure many extended late lunches and a few lengthy shopping forays. He has been an amazing little man about it all and has really just gone with the flow the entire time. It has been a great opportunity for me, the 5am-5pm working Dad, to really spend some valuable and fun time with him. And of course, it has been wonderful traveling with Gwen as well. This was our first trip together out of the USA and she is a great travel partner. The entire trip has been a really wonderful experience for our little Maui family unit.

Day 14………Miles awoke with something in his eye and spent the entire day with one eye closed. We still managed to go to the elephant park, where Miles and Gwen rode Daisy and I rode Sangigi. Adi transported us there, via another road that had a seemingly endless array of vendors selling everything from wooden puppets to wooden mask carvings to ceramics to stone carvings, stone sculpture, furniture, beadwork and so many other items that I cannot even begin to recount them all. And on the hillsides behind the roadside sellers, were yet more insanely intricate rice terraces with farmers up to their knees in muck, working away. The other item being sold on the roadside, which I have failed to mention thus far, is “bensin,” mostly bottled in Absolut Vodka bottles, Gordon’s Gin, and various other recycled distillery glassware. When I first saw it on our initial daytime drive to Nusa Dua, I asked the driver if it was green tea. He chuckled and said that it was, in fact, gasoline. I said, “yes, that’s it, gasoline, we call it green tea in Hawaii and I like to have a pint every day.” Having unsuccessfully veiled my status as a stupid bule, I realized that if I were a more paranoid personality, I’d probably be concerned about these nearly ready made Molitov cocktails being sold all across the island. Alas, I choose to think of it as green tea and any such paranoia is allayed. Anyway, the elephant park was cool, but the drives are what I really enjoy. It would be a fun and stressful place to ride a bike and I couldn’t help but picture the Boulder Vibe Tribe Bike Geeks invading Bali and mucking up traffic all across the island. I have seen a few cyclists here but not many. I’ve always thought riding on Maui is an adventure but Maui is far less daunting than Bali. Anyhow, we packed it in after the elephant park due to Miles eye condition. We returned to the hotel so he could lie around with a patch on his eye. I went for jalan jalan (walk around) to see what else was in the neighborhood of the hotel that I had not seen as yet. We went for an early dinner at Murni’s (www.murnis.com) , where I had yet another great curry dish overlooking the scenic river. Bintangs for Gwen and I , orange Fanta for Miles.

Day 15….We had our usual breakfast at the hotel, prior to departing for a big walk around the Ubud region. We re-traced our initial steps from our first day in Ubud and climbed the staircase to the International Highway. This highway, is really just a concrete sidewalk that connects Campuhan to Penestenan Village. We found that the dogs we encountered off the beaten track were more interested in us than dogs we encountered elsewhere, so I was on a higher level of alert as some of the maga dogs took to barking at us and following us. We walked for quite a long way before encountering a couple from Holland, who were heading in the opposite direction and had a better map than us. I was merely navigating based upon a general sense of direction. It was working well for us, but the couple tipped us off on a great little side street that turned into a single track trek through some rice paddies that were busy being worked. It was a great detour and near the end, we met a nice old lady, mother of six, who was interested in speaking with us and was, like most people we met, extremely interested in the boy. Wherever we go, people always call out, “hello boy” or, “what’s your name boy?” We wound our way through several more kilometers of random side streets, eventually finding our way to central Ubud and a nice spot for lunch and a beer at a place called Nomad. As usual, the food was fantastic and we were visited by some boys from an orphanage, performing along the street and adding to the atmosphere of the place, before they moved along to the next establishment. Shortly after leaving, we encountered Maui artist, Janet Davis, and some of her Maui friends on the street; our first encounter of a familiar face, which we had been anticipating even though we had no idea who it may be. Dined at the hotel to gamelan music, accompanied by a bit of local dance for our final night dinner in Ubud.

Day 16- We ran into Doug and John, the Aussies who have stayed at Hotel Tjampuhan every year for the last 35 years. I gave them a business card in case they ever decide to try for a variation on theme and come to Hawaii. Unlikely. While speaking with them, a British woman walked by and took the conversation in a new direction. She touched on McArthur, Roosevelt, Churchill and other historically significant political and military icon along the way. The funny part was that she identified herself as a “dyed in the wool Baptist, who happens to find the Hindu gods and cast of characters much more fun and interesting than Jesus, Mary and Joseph.” It was hilarious listening, with her proper British accent and all.

We checked out of the hotel, but not before purchasing another day at the Spa. Miles and I enjoyed the fabulous grotto whirlpool and cold plunge, the steam room, sauna and monkey-frog pool. Gwen did a bit more shopping and met up with us later. We had our final late lunch at Murni’s Warung….a couple more Bintang, then back for a bit more Spa time. As we sat in the lobby, awaiting the inevitable end to this vacation, we met yet another Aussie woman who was also leaving. She told us how she would be completely distraught over leaving, were it not for the fact she is coming back in November, with her 85 year old mother, to stay for a year. She will be renting a home from one of the hotel staff for the year. And I guess the thing that struck me most in speaking with her was the last thing she said before saying goodbye: “Being around the Balinese people, makes me a better person.” I’m not sure I can claim that as one of the end results of the trip, but I do know what she means. The people we encountered were all warm, hospitable, helpful, genuine and happy we chose to visit them. Many people would say, “thank you for coming to Bali.” They loved hearing me butcher their language and enjoyed helping me get it right. They adore kids, so Miles was doted on every step of the way. I could really rave on and on about what a perfect trip it was, but I’ve done enough of that already and now it’s time to reintegrate my consciousness with life on Maui and getting back to work at the job I feel doubly blessed to have, after having walked around Bali for several days, witnessing many who are less fortunate than I. With any luck, some of that Balinese hospitality may have rubbed off on me and maybe, just maybe, I’ll be a better person for it. But don’t count on it.