Bali Hai

After a late afternoon flight into Bali we arrived about 9.30pm and were picked up by our driver who bought us to our hotel along a reasonably busy road even for 10pm.  The last 500 mtrs were not much more than a goat track and just as my concerns were getting to a high point we arrived at what appeared to be the back door but was actually the front door of our hotel.

Our room was very pleasant and following a good nights sleep we lined up for an early breakfast before being picked up for our all day tour to see some of the sites of Bali.

These lovely friendly people really haven't grasped the idea of "hot".  The beautiful chafing dishes were set out with sausages, fried rice, chicken curry, tempura veggies, baked beans, stir fry veggies etc and all cold.  They were all plugged in and turned on but very low.  I realised after the first morning that the omelette was made to order so was hot.  Great news.

The pool area was very nice and we spent a bit of time there during our stay.  This included coctails by the pool and dinner one night as well

We woke up to a very rainy day and I couldn't see us doing the tour in this so I opted to postpone.  This wasn't going to work so we proceeded and we're glad we did as the rain cleared about the time that the monkey jumped on Stuart's back.

Our first stop was the a traditional song and dance recital.  The gist of it was good spirits fight bad spirits and God steps in and saves the girl who has been tied to a tree and cries in a voice reminiscent of Kathy crying when she was little and we sent her outside to amuse herself and play - I'm not sure whether God got involved in Kathy's crying though. 

The streets were very crowded and when I commented to our driver on this, his reply was "Bali people do nothing and they do it very slowly."  Which gave us both a laugh.

Monkey Forrest was next where there were hundreds of rhesius long tailed monkeys roaming wild in the area and out on the road etc.  after a small fee passed from Stuart to the entry person we were permitted to enter and wander at our leisure while monkeys sat around eating bananas and sweet potato.  The potato was supplied and the bananas purchased by unsuspecting tourists from people inside shouting "feed the monkeys".  We were warned not to purchase bananas as we would be swarmed by these little near humans for the bananas and if we put our hand into a bag or pocket we were again swarmed in case we had something edible hidden therein.  Stuart had a backpack and they thought there might be food hidden within.  Some were very small and very cute.

We then made our way to a batik factory where we were shown how to make traditional hand painted and dyed batik and were shown how to part with a lot of money to purchase same items.  For a much cheaper rate I bought a piece of green tonings stamped batik for a granddaughters quilt.

From there we ventured to the rice terraces where  entire hill side has been turned into rice paddies and the view is beautiful.

Every spare section of arable land has a purpose and this one is owned by many rice farmers who plant and irrigate their crops.

Part of our tour included a trip to a coffee plantation.  Yes my thoughts as well - coffee - in Bali?  Nobody told me it was the Luwak coffee.  You know the one, it is fed as a whole fruit to the Civet who enjoys it thoroughly digesting the outer skin and flesh then rejecting the coffee bean..... yeah the way we reject our finished meal.

The Civet, a small nocturnal mammel native to tropical Asia 

The collected bean after the civet is done eating and pooing it out

The cleaned (thoroughly, I hope) Lewak coffee bean

The roasted coffee bean which is then ground down to coffee as we know it now except that our coffee doesn't have this unique flavour????

Some very enterprising and very poorly paid person then goes round and collects these beans which are cleaned and boiled and then dried and roasted.  They are then crushed in a mortar and pestle and made into coffee which sells for an exorbitant price.  I think they have to do this to make is unsuspecting people think it is VERY good when it is just the excrement of a little ground dwelling rodent roasted, crushed and drunk by - yes Stuart and I. Well at least 2 mouthfuls by me.  Any more and I would have had trouble.  I believe it sells for about $40 a cup in Europe and America.

And in bulk it is currently available for A$125 a pound in the US.  But it is off my bucket list..... hang on it wasn't on the bloody thing in the first place.

We also visited an amazing wood carving factory where the carver had a phallic fetish, I think.  
The next day we took a shuttle into Seminyak - and then on to Denpasar.  We were on a mission.  Me for quilting fabric and Stuart for Dvd's.  Again it was a bit wet to start but we dodged showers and had a pretty good day.  I got my stash of fabric - enough to make about 12 quilts for grandchildren who I hope will cherish them and not let their dog or cat sleep on them.  

 We were not informed when we booked our holiday / quilt fabric buying jaunt that in the middle of our tour was a Hindu religious ceremonial day where it is a day of silence and darkness.  We had decided to take this in our stride but the day before was traffic jammed to the max as people were building the most amazing monsters and Gods - one and the same really which towered about 4 metres in the air and roped to bamboo platforms carried by about 20 young men in processions all around Bali.

These were constructed on Footpaths and because of size, jutted out into the street as just another obstacle to be avoided along with 3,000 motor bikes carrying the entire families along with one I saw with a 9 month old baby carried by mum in her left arm while she negotiated the vehicular traffic and other bikes in the rafferties rules which are the streets of Bali.

The whole process was taken very seriously and was overseen by both the police and army.

We wanted to watch the procession and guessed that a 600 metre walk up to an intersection would bring us to an area where they would pass.  No- we had about another 900 metre to go to see the display which consisted of 15,00 people in the space of a normal street intersection with a big space in the middle for the large effigies depicting the good and evil spirits of the Hindu religion carried on the shoulders of very bronzed,  muscled, strong young men.

Each accompanied by a bevy of dancing women in traditional costume (don't they all).  After about an hour and a half of this we decided to call it a night and walk back to the hotel having dinner along the way.

But we were there for some serious Fabric buying and headed to a well known batik fabric shop in Denpasar to add to my stash.  Before leaving home I had worked out what I was making and how much I needed and of course what it weighed by the metre, for jelly rolls, for fat quarters and for charm packs.

Very hard to miss the sellers on the side of the street selling silver jewellery for under a dollar and Channel No 5 for $10 and even the clandistine movie like fellow with 20 watches which appeared as he slid up the sleeve of his shirt.

We arrived in Bali with only 1 suitcase for both of us but go back with 2 extra bags so we had to pay for extra luggage going back and of course had to weigh it all as we were flying with Jetstar.

Despite Nyepi day and the disruption it caused to our holiday, we enjoyed our stay.  

We had a couple of massages while here, first a foot massage for 1/2 an hour for $12 .50, then a few days later, a full body massage for 1 hour for $25.  Amazing!

Rafferties Rules applied when on the street, it didn't matter what side you drove on or who else was on the street but everyone seemed to get through much blowing of the horn and without too much bother

Like all Asian countries there were more scooters and motor bikes than cars it appeared and it was incredible what people carry on these bikes.  Some have a whole family.  Dad at the handlebars with a small child in front then a smaller child behind him. Mum next with a very little baby in her arms and an older child behind her hanging on to her was a common site.  All available children hanging on with one hand and carrying something in the other, and all appear under 8. Through all this they weave and dive in between fast moving vehicles just beeping their horn to get through, how the cars miss them and each other I have no idea.  Of course very few have helmets.  Some carry 8 ft ladders and cans of all sizes strapped to their bike.  The ladder they of course carried over one shoulder.  Stuart found out there are 1 million blue bird taxis in Bali along with about 3 different companies working.  All fighting for a tourist dollar which is 10,000 rupiah....and you daren't stop on the side of the street intending to cross as they swarm like bees beeping at you to see if you want to go somewhere. 

Have too much cable - just roll it up and twist it round a few poles - she'll do

Offerings to the Hindu Gods were placed everywhere and any time.  this fellow decided to make his offering in the middle of the street so cars just had to go around him;..

Safety doesn't seem to be a big concern for the Bali people.  They take their life and that of their families into their own hands on their bikes every day and then we saw next door to our hotel was another multi story building being erected.  The frame work was up to the third floor with workers scurrying around like ants in regulation uniform of hi-viz vests and rubber thongs. 

A building being errected next door to our hotel with the workers wearing all the best safety equipment including hard hats and safety boots

Thoughts were with my son in law Peter who's job involves the safety of other workers.

In Kuta we paid a visit to the memorial where so many Australians died in the bombing of the nightclub in 2004 where 202 people lost their lives including 88 Australians.
A very solumn moment was spent at the memorial.

Memorial in Kuta

The land on which the nightclub stood which stands empty still

Kuta Beach of course was always on our list of places to visit while in Bali

Taxis are very cheap.  I got a cab from Dempassar to Seminyak a distance of  18 kilometres for $3.70 with their equivalent of Uber.  The taxi is much dearer - it is $7.50.

Lunch one day was interesting - it consisted of a pile of onion rings apparently wrapped around a can i suspect to give the hole in middle.  dipped in very light batter and fried.  yes i know not good for the arteries but great on the tongue.

On our last day we said goodby to the wonderful staff at the Maison at C hotel in Seminyak and our driver took us back to the airport.  The entire interior was alive with thousands of orchids on display. 
After a false start where a technical problem (I heard wing fell off or engine won't start.), we headed for the clouds to make the 3 and a half hour trip back to good old Aus.

While we were away we had family caught up in one of the biggest cyclones to hit the east coast in quite a few years and thank God for modern technology i could talk to my grandson, a granddaughter and daughter just to hear their voice and know they were coping.  Yes I know - Grandmas can tell just by listening to their voice.

I knew my oldest grandson Joel had everything in place for the in excess of 150 klm hour winds expected but suddenly realised the little garden shed wasn't tied down and I knew my youngest granddaughters main concern was if the power went out could she charge up her electronics - from right over in Bali.

As we said goodby to Bali I was excited to get started on my new fabrics but that will have to wait a while as we have the nod from the weather man that it is cooling down up in the north and Stuart's back is telling him he can cope with some more travel.

Thanks for joining me in our little jaunt to Bali, see you back in Australia as we follow the Western Australian road north to places unseen by us before.