Bali-Day 2.3

As promised Bali 2.3 is a continuation of our second day at the Bamboo cottages. We were lucky to have Puta's cousin take us on a tour of the village of Sudaji. The village is spread over quite a large area. The cottages are down in what I think of as the main part of the village.  Our "trek" (and I call it a trek because that makes me think that it was more of a walk.)  Bob and I differ on our interpretation of our excursion...so I will stick with trek.

The village is in an area which is good for growing all sorts of fruit and spice trees.  In fact, this area is known for the tree nurseries for clove trees and durian trees...the first tree we saw was a clove tree.

 At the end of the branch there is a little cluster of pointed green fruits.  These are the cloves.  The bunch is picked green and laid out to dry.  There is no smell at all to the fruit which makes me wonder how someone originally hit upon the idea of drying them.  The are dried on a mat in the sun...of course.

 These smelled delicious!  They will dry to black before they are ground or packaged whole..."our" familiar spice.

Of course there are many coconut trees - both yellow and green coconut.  The trees are massive and I feel that the people who climb them to get the fruit are very brave.

 On the left is yellow coconut and on the right is green coconut.

Everywhere there are hibiscus plants. Most look like the one we had at home (which never bloomed).  They seem to be wild, but we also saw many hedges of hibiscus. In a future post you will read about a lady who makes hibiscus tea...so stay tuned...

There are also many banana trees.  The bananas here are much smaller than the ones we are used to, and they have a different kind of tang (the only way to describe the different taste) and are very delicious.  This is a small banana tree...we saw many larger.

 You can see a small bunch of bananas on the centre tree on the left hand side.  The banana leaves are also used for a variety of things, but especially as plates and wraps for food.

The next fruit tree we saw was a "jack fruit" which is a very odd shape and covered with spikes, so I wonder who first said "let's pick that ugly spiky fruit there and see how it tastes.

 The brown lumps on the tree are the fruit.

Through the trees at the side of the road it was possible to see the rice fields and also a "nursery" of clove trees.  They are covered by black cloth to protect them from the sun, just as ginseng is protected in Canada.

From this point the road took a turn up, and we started climbing up the side of the hill.  Though the path was really only wide enough for one vehicle, we were passed by motorcycles on a pretty regular basis.  All along were houses and groups of houses and small stores selling drinks, snacks and other necessities.  As we climbed we were able to see more and more of the rice fields below.

The path took us past wild cacao, wild coffee and other wild fruit which I forget the name of...

 A cacao plant with no fruit.

 Coffee plant with fruit and flowers.

 Fruit whose name I forget, hanging in long clumps in the tree.

 Same fruit close up.

In gardens we saw papaya. 

There was also a wild fruit...another one of those ugly brown (though not spiky) fruits, called snakeskin fruit...

 Almost impossible to see at the base of the plant...brown balls...another fruit mystery...

Along the way we saw the occasional poinsettia plants...

 A nice spot of colour in a sea of green.

We finally reached the "top" and there was a temple!

The view was amazing!

The trail in the woods...motorcycles also travel on this...

It was nice that all along our two hour trek there were houses, and people...lots and lots of friendly people. Everyone asked where we were from and the children all said "hello!"

 The "road" ( one of the nicer sections) and a house as we headed "down."  The route was a loop, so we didn't backtrack at all.

On this side of the village there is bridge construction.  A bad flood washed the bridge away a couple of years ago, and the bamboo replacement bridge needs replacing, so they are building a big sturdy bridge.  Don't let the presence of large equipment fool you...most of this work is being done by hand.

After our village trek it was wonderful to come home to a specially cooked Balinese meal...seriously, I could get used to this lifestyle.

Bali-Day 2.2

It struck me as I completed Bali Day 2 that it was in fact Bali Day 1, so I thought I would borrow the numbering system software uses and declare this version as 2.2...simply an update of Day 2.  This is actually our second full day in Bali, though it does seem like we've been here longer.

I will start with our amazing accommodations.  When we first decided on Bali, we began searching Airbnb for possible locations and we stumbled upon the place where we are currently staying.  Billed as a "traditional" Balinese experience, Bamboo cottages is just that....small cottages made of bamboo.  Our hosts, Puta, Zanzan and their family have created a little oasis.  There is a place for meditation, an eating area and the cottages.  

A waterfall leads to a pool and the water runs on down to the rice fields below.  

Our room has a bed with a canopy and curtains of mosquito netting...the cool breeze flows through the room at night.  

The bathroom is also "outside"...private yet open to the sky.

 

Our meals have been fabulous!  Traditional Balinese food cooked by Zanzan's mother. I was fooled today by tofu chicken...something I didn't believe possible!

 

Our food is served on banana leaves.

Our hosts are friendly and accommodating.  They have decided to make this a "green" development and use no plastic...we have glass bottles of water in our room!  Two of their children attend the "Green  School" which is an international school located in Bali.  Our hosts are trying to help their village become 'greener' and go back to more traditional methods of farming and using the land. 

Today we went on a village tour with Puta's cousin, and I will make that the subject of version 2.3.

Bali-Day 2

 We sat on the left side :)

Our first morning in Bali began with breakfast on the "patio" at Kuta Angel hotel watching the traffic.  I confess to choosing the "American" breakfast while Bob chose the "Aussie" breakfast.  What we learned from the lovely girl working at the hotel is that Bali is very popular with Australians...no surprise I guess, since it is so close.

Back to breakfast,  I did not take a picture, but I'm sure you can imagine breakfast...the street in front of the hotel is one-way, and sort of has two lanes...but these are not clearly marked....vehicles just drive...and hundreds and hundreds of scooters and motorbikes.  So far the most I've seen on a motorbike has been 4 people...mom and dad with one child sandwiched between and the smaller child up front like a hood ornament.  People of all ages are driving scooters and bikes...well, all ages starting at late teens.  We've been told that young people cannot legally drive till they are 18, but that many break that law.

After breakfast  we headed off to church which looked to be about 1.2 km away.  The streets were amazingly empty, I guess because it was Sunday and still early.

We has travelled perhaps half way to church when we were approached by a man handing out pamphlets to advertise a company.  They were in fact "tickets" which we opened to reveal a prize we had "won". He was clearly excited because Bob had won a special prize and if we went to claim it, he would receive a nice bonus.  He was so genuinely happy that we told him that we had to go to church first, but would go after.  He got us a taxi to the church and waited for us :)

It was actually a good chance meeting because the church was farther than we thought and we would definitely have been late.

 

 Quick photos taken on our way in.

We have determined that this is our fifth different language mass (counting the French one years ago in Montreal ). Anyway, the service was lovely and the music lively and wonderful. We left to meet our contact and get a free taxi to collect our amazing prize. 

Inside and outside the church. 

As we left we realized that there were people sitting on the steps outside participating in the mass!

Those of you who have thought a bit about the "back" story here and our chance meeting and free gift will no doubt have figured out that we were in for an advertising spiel...and in fact we were.  We got another free taxi ride to our meeting where we were regaled with the wonders of Regency Hotels and the amazing opportunities for travel if we were to become members.  We were on a bit of a tight time frame because we were being picked up at noon to travel to north Bali.  In case you are wondering, we did not sign up....but didn't have time for the whole presentation due to our time constraints. We

Plan to go back next week...

So...on to the rest of our day...

We returned to our hotel, richer by two t-shirts and the great free gift of 7 days accommodation at one of he resorts in the brochure...I wonder how many of the prizes are actually the $1000 Australian or the iPad.  My guess is not many.  This is also my guess at the number of people who take the free holiday.  But I digress again.  

We were picked up by our host who came for us herself because her driver had backed out. The next three or so hours was spent travelling along the most interesting road....

But first...we booked into the Bamboo Cottages in the village of Sudaji in northern Bali.  The advertisement said it was small and traditional, with "rooms" in bamboo huts and traditional meals and activities.

Our host, Puta, is a very interesting person to talk to, so between the scenery and the talking the drive was most enjoyable.

This is a roadside gas stand. Should you be low in gas, you can stop and for about $0.70 you can have a litre of gas put into the tank.  In fact, gas at the gas station is about $0.65 per litre and someone pumps it for you.  Never in canada moments, both of them.  Note that you can also buy fresh corns and watermelon at this gas stand.  We saw many of these stands along the road. 

Our journey took us through the city and then up a hill and through the jungle. This was narrow winding road like we've never seen. Narrow lanes with no shoulders and scooters an bikes passing whenever there was a free moment. A quick honk to say "I'm here" and the bike zipped by.  Driving on the left already seemed strange...add to this being passed on both right and left.   And steady traffic. Up down and around...

This roadside work was just one of the many obstacles by the side of the road which further narrowed the driving area.  In a couple of places there were signs in the middle of the lane warning of a dangerous situation, or one requiring caution, while creating an even more dangerous situation.  There is a calmness about the driving frenzy though in that all people are driving the same way. No one seems concerned if they are passed.  If there is a s mall opening a motorbike will take it and does not expect anyone to move, just continue.  Watching the traffic was itself an education. 

All along the road we saw temples like this one and Puta explained that Hindu families would have their own family temple in their yard and the likely numerous other larger family temples elsewhere.  She said that's why Bali was known as the island of 100000 temples...90% of the population is Hindu.

When we finally arrived in their small village it was getting dark. We met ZanZan, Puta's husband and were shown our cottage.  A cup of tea and some traditional treats and we basically called it a night.

Summer 2014-Bound for Bali

Our amazing vacation started here, in Sokcho on a humble express bus.  We spent the night in Seoul, rose early and took two more buses to Incheon airport, arriving at 8:23 am...and none too soon for an 11:05 flight.

First we checked our bags...Every time I put my little ladybug bag on the conveyor at the airport I thank the parent who made the decision to buy a bright patterned bag.  It is always the only bag like that!  Here she goes on her way to Bali :)

Then there was money to exchange - American dollars for the Indonesian visa (upon arrival we were told that we could pay in local currency...but the websites we consulted said USD...so that's what we did...but I digress) and Indonesian rupia for the rest.  Indonesian money has one more zero than Korean money...we are used to our 10000 won bills which correspond roughly to $10...the 100000 rupia bill is worth about $10!  This is what about $600 looks like in rupia.

 Talk about a wad of cash!

After money was security, duty free and a quick bite which counted as breakfast.  We then had about 30 minutes before boarding.  Our longest wait in all that time was probably in the duty free...Incheon airport security is thorough (our boarding passes and/or passports were scanned three times between check in and boarding), but very efficient!

 And here is our plane...an Airbus 330-200 series...big!

Our flight was about 6 hours long.  The service was great, and the food and beverages plentiful.

Lunch looked like this:

  Indonesian beef

 Barbecue chicken...pretty tasty too...for airplane food :)

We landed on time and then waited in a variety of lineups to 1) pay the visa fee 2) go through immigration, 3) go through customs.  We arrived just as it was getting "duskish". We walked around a bit to look at the sights and then finally hailed a cab...

I will talk about cabs another time...well I will say that our cab driver was a seemingly nice man who spoke passable English, but who "forgot" where our hotel was, and took us on quite a sight seeing tour to get there.  I finally found the hotel location using google maps and we headed back to where we had already been...

Our place for the night is small, but clean and comfy.  

 The rooms here have names, not numbers...this is ours :)

We had a delicious dinner and a sit on the beach to watch the waves crash on the beach...very nice.

It was a long day, but fun...and we are ready to enjoy this part of our tropical summer of '14!

Stay tuned....