HOLIDAY IN BALI

Last Thursday we got back from an 8 day holiday in Bali, which was absolutely fantastic. Bina Bangsa gave us a two week (paid!) vacation for the Lebaran (aka: Idul Fitri, aka: Eid) holiday which follows the end of the Ramadan month. ("Selamat Hari Raya Idul Fitri 1433 H!" as banners everywhere proclaim. Guess it's kind of like seeing "Merry Christmas!" everywhere in December.) Anyway, a group of 11 new North American teachers made a plan to go to Bali during school orientation in June, and we all stayed at the same hotel in Seminyak, in the southern, more touristy part of Bali. The rooms were large, I guess they were actually suites, and (somehow) managed to squeeze all the girls into one and all the guys into another.

We did a lot of amazing things, and I will do my best to describe what we did in concise paragraphs. Okay, here goes...

Wednesday the 15th: We left Jakarta and flew to Bali on an Air Asia flight. Like other Asian airlines, the plane has seats in the emergency exit rows, which is a little worrying. No matter, we got there in a little more than an hour and took a taxi from Denpasar to Seminyak. Our hotel, Centra Taum (which was really lovely and I recommend it to anyone who might happen to find themselves in Bali) was located down a dirt road in what I can only imagine was formerly a rice paddy. Other rice paddies, hotels, and the occasional convenience store were also located along the same road. We headed down one of the main roads to find dinner that night.

Thursday: Spent and hour or two shopping at Seminyak square at the open air market. It's mostly gifts and clothing there. I bought a dress. We then went to the beach where we sunbathed and I boogie boarded (which was a lot of fun, even if I seemed to get knocked over by the waves half the time) and left only a little sunburned on my back. The beach was about a 20-25 minute walk from our hotel down that same street where we ate dinner the first night.

Friday: Woke up at 1 AM, three hours after I had gone to bed. Left the hotel at 1:30 to meet the vans hired the day before to take us to Gunung Batur, a voclano in northern Bali. One of the vans showed up on time, the other was still MIA at nearly 2 AM. When Nicole called the driver, I'm pretty sure he was still in bed. He got there at 2:30 and the second group to leave booked it over in the dead of night. As for our van (which left first) I was asleep half the time we drove, but I do remember passing through a really strange night market that was completely full of people.

We arrived at 4 AM and began the climb in the pitch dark and cold. At the time I wished I hadn't worn shorts and a T-shirt. As we got hiking, I started to sweat of course, but when we paused I was all the colder and clammier. Hiking in the dark was a little challenging because we had to hold flashlights as we went and all of your concentration was on your next step. Seeing as we were climbing a volcano, the path was mostly sand, gravel, and loose pumice-y stones - not very stable. I had chosen to wear my sports sandals, which maybe wasn't the best choice, as all the sand and rocks fell in and got trapped under my feet and didn't fall out again. We got to the summit at about sunrise, where we were treated to a spectacular view out over the ocean, another volcano, and fields stretching out to the horizon. As a bonus, we were also treated to the scene of tons of Indonesians gathered around big flags singing their national anthem at sunrise, because it just so happened to be Independence Day. I don't know much of the national anthem, but we sing it every Monday in school at assembly, so I know a couple of words in the chorus. It was an awesome sight to behold.

We hiked up a little further and took a break at the highest point on the volcano. Our guides (we were required to have two guides for our group of six) cooked us eggs in the steam escaping from vents in the side of the volcano and made banana sandwiches, served with your choice of coffee or tea. Although all 11 of us had met up at the summit, the other group started their descent before us. I certainly didn't mind taking in the view at the top and listening (now for the fifth or sixth time) to the national anthem sung again. Then we began our own descent. The next part was absolutely terrifying and amazing. We were literally walking on the very lip of the volcano, winding our way around to the other side. I felt (mostly) safe but my heart was pumping adrenaline because walking along the path that was only five or six inches wide in parts, and in other parts a foot wide but with absolutely nothing (and I do mean nothing) on either side except the long, steep, slope of the volcano, and the feeling that too strong a wind might just blow you over... well, I had a healthy amount of fear underneath my seemingly calm composure.

The way down was easier, not least of all because now we had light and didn't need flashlights. Sand and gravel were still filling my sandals every 5 seconds, and I did slip once on a particularly steep and loose part of the gravel path. Scratched up my right leg pretty badly. This wasn't a deep cut or anything, but a big, wide surface scratch, about the size of my hand, that took off a decent amount of skin and really, really smarted. At the time there was nothing but to put up with it. The next time we took a break I poured water and hand sanitizer on it (which really, really smarted.) Also got a cut on my left knee from a pumicey rock with a little sticking out bit, but that cut hurt far less.

By the time we were at the base again, we were all pretty tired. Waking up at 1 AM and climbing a volcano can do that do you. But we will always be able to say we climbed all of Mt. Batur, and got some absolutely wonderful views and photos out of it. I especially loved standing and walking on the very cusp of the volcano crater ridge. The mixture of amazement, fear, awe, and appreciation I felt is a bit beyond words. That night we had a dinner at our hotel and got to watch Balinese dance and listen to traditional gamelan music.

Saturday: Went to the trendier, more touristy town of Kuta (jam packed with Australians) to do a little shopping and each lunch. That night we went to a restaurant / bar / lounge called Potato Head, which was directly on the ocean and had it's own beach front. The place was recommended by one of our Singaporean friends who has been to Bali many times before. The place was (to use our group's new favourite adjective) very chill. We had had to make reservations two days beforehand but it was worth it. That night, a few of us went to a bar in Kuta and danced the night away. The place we went, Tavern bar, was very crowed, loud, bright, and noisy. It was a little weird seeing only Indonesians working there and only Australians and Westerners dancing and drinking , but I was a little too busy having fun to worry about it too much.

Sunday: Sunday... What did we do Sunday...? Must not have done anything very productive in the morning, but in the afternoon we went to a beach in the very southern peninsula of Bali. This beach was filled with beautiful, huge boulders, sea caves in the surrounding cliffs, and tons of tanned, near-anorexic, Europeans. Swam a little bit and had some lunch, and then we went to meet up with others in our group to go to the famous temple of Ulu Watu. We had meant to all go to the beach together, but travelling in a big group and needing to take at least two or three taxis meant that we often got separated. The group I was with met up with the others just as they were leaving the temple. We stayed and watched the sunset (which was very beautiful) and walked around the temple. I had imagined Ulu Watu to be this secluded, mysterious bit of spirituality tucked away up a mountain in a jungle, but I should have known better. Like most of Southern Bali, it was full of tourists. So much for my visions of the Mystic Orient and it's mystical temples. Actually, I'm sure those are out there, just not in Southern Bali.

Monday: Left for Ubud in the morning. Ubud is a town in central Bali (and it's also apparently featured in Eat, Pray, Love.) There were still many tourists there, but the town itself has a far less touristy feel than Seminyak or Kuta. We went to the Sacred Monkey Forest there, which was super cool. I'm not exactly sure how old everything there is. The whole place is lush and green and beautiful. We walked around some interesting statues and down a little river path before heading back to the main temple area. There was a Hindu religious ceremony going on, so you could peer in through the gates but not enter. (Obviously. You'd feel like a real jerk walking in on the equivalent of someone's Sunday church service or ceremony with a camera in hand, snapping away.) Macaque monkeys were everywhere, big and small, energetic and calm, eating, running around, and nursing babies. I got some really good photos, including a few of a couple of adult female macaques who came and chilled out by me, about two feet away! They were very calm, so I tried to stay very calm, and we were all very calm together.

On our way out, something unexpected happened. It really shouldn't have been unexpected though. I was crouched down on the ground taking a photo when a cheeky little toddler monkey seemed to suddenly and magnetically attach himself to the metal water bottle on the side of my backpack. My reaction, which I fully admit was a stupid one, was to  whip around and grab the monkey, trying to pin him to my backpack so that he couldn't escape with my water bottle. If I had gotten bit I would have completely deserved it. Of course, he got away and started playing with my water bottle. I asked very politely for him to give it back, but he wouldn't. Then, also perhaps stupidly, I was taking a picture of this rascal, waiting for him to hopefully abandon the thing, when another, adult macaque came and took it. I have a photo of the baby monkey walking away from the water bottle and the next one is the adult turning it over with his hands and feet. I definitely wasn't about to fight this monkey, so I just waited. Fortunately one of the temple supervisors who deal with the monkeys every day distracted the culprit so that I got to take back my water. That's what I get for not zipping it up in my backpack.

After nearly fighting a monkey in the Monkey Forest, we walked around Ubud for a while, down some very beautiful streets, and then finished out day at the Elephant Cave nearby. This cave is apparently from the 11th century and looks like a giant demon head coming of out a hillside. You walk inside and there are a few alcoves with statues, include Ganesh, the Hindu god of education, as it is. The cave was worth it alone, but the surrounding area was also awesome. There were some absolutely beautiful paths that ran around hills and past boulders and waterfalls. I only got to explore part of it, but it really looked like something... I don't know... out of a National Geographic, on a postcard, but 20xs better. All in all, our day in Ubud was great.

Tuesday: Went with Lynsey, Eduardo, and Josh to try scuba diving for the first time! We traveled south to the beach area of Nusa Dua (which was also jam packed with tourists, but all Indonesians from other islands.) The driver got us a good deal so we only paid about $45 each. Our guide, a laid back guy whom I'm sure takes tourists out dozens of times a week, gave us the basics of how to breath underwater and what hand signals to use. Suited up in half-wetsuits and weight belts, we traveled a little ways out and stopped by where many other boats were parked. We got to do the compulsory flippers-over-head backward flop into the ocean and then our guide and his assistant helped us into the jackets with the oxygen tanks. They brought us down about 6 meters to an area with a metal fence around some coral. Apparently they bring all the newbie divers here. We stayed at the coral for the duration of the 25 minute dive and fed fish from bread in plastic bags they had given us before hand. Then it was back to the surface and back to shore. In a way it would have been nice to swim around a bit more, but I really didn't mind having a fairly mild dive seeing as it was my first time and I had no training other than a five minute session on how to breath and use hand signals.

Later that evening we went to the beach again for only a little bit, and threw ourselves in some waves. I imagine I ate dinner somewhere, but I really can't remember at the moment, so it must not have been that memorable.

Wednesday: Was completely lazy in the morning: read by the pool and then slept. Later, I went with two other friends for a massage (and was practically accosted by the overenthusiastic workers there.) Wasn't about to get a body massage with my back still sunburned, so I opted for a pedicure, which was a bit shocking (not to mention scary with all those weird metal tools they use to scrape and snip) seeing as I really don't like anyone touching my feet. But my feet did turn out much nicer looking in the end. Later still, I got a bit of time to myself to walk to the beach and write in my journal as the sun was going down, which was very peaceful.That evening a small group of us went back to Kuta to once again to get drinks and dance the night away. It was... shall we say, an eventful evening, full of lots of drink and dancing, and I even kissed an Australian surfer guy from Perth!

Thursday: We flew back to Jakarta. Our holiday was great. Already miss the relaxed atmosphere, clean air, beach, and mixture of adventure and laziness. We have another holiday coming up at the end of September, for one week. (That's the thing with year-round school - more frequent short breaks.) Right now a few friends are brainstorming ideas about going to Thailand or Vietnam, but there are no definite plans. Probably will do whatever is cheapest!