Day 3
Water the Elephants
After a disappointing end to Day 2, we wanted to make sure our next day was better. The good news was Day 3 was the day I was looking forward to the most. Our day was, to begin with, white river rafting, followed by riding elephants at a sanctuary, and ending with a two-hour spa service.
To everyone’s dismay we had to wake up a bit early (8 am), but we had prearranged with the hotel to have our breakfast made early so it wasn’t all that rough. Our driver/tour guide Alid was on time and ready to drive us to the river rafting. What we did not know was that the river rafting and elephant experience were at the same place.
After a minimal wait, we were off and trekking down a path in a jungle to our river. What we learned quite quickly in Bali was that there really was no safety instructions and we kind of could do whatever we wanted as long as we tipped. To this end, we hopped in the river blindly and were met almost instantly with repeated drops. We quickly became soaked and remained that way throughout as there were waterfalls and rapids that came crashing into our poor raft.
Our tour guide was a bit quirky. He tried to make jokes, but they were strange and only half funny. His movements in the boat were also counter-intuitive. Why we would turn 270 degrees instead of a quick 90 sharp turn bewildered me, but we got through it. At one point he found it funny to ask us to paddle back into a drop and our boat became flooded. Instead of being concerned he laughed and started splashing us with the water in the boat. We stopped at a few places and cliff dived. Eventually, we got back in the raft and completed the experience.
After a quick shower, we walked to the other end of the park and started our elephant experience. The elephants came quickly and we hopped on them. The only thing holding us in was a single elastic strap that was knotted. After no instructions or warning, we were off riding an elephant. Unsurprising, it was not a smooth experience and going downhill on an elephant is quite challenging.
We made our way around the park and to a watering/bathing hole for the elephant. Up until this point, we were sitting on a bench on the elephants back. This is when the guide who was leading asked if we wanted to change spots. Meaning I would be driving the elephant and sitting right behinds its head. With its big ears flapping and hitting my knees, we submerged ourselves in the water and went back to where we started. Holding on for dear life the elephant sat down to pose for pictures and I was forced to clutch the elephant as to not fall off. All the while the guide laughing and coaxing me on. The elephant had repeated this path numerous times I am sure, got up, and made its way back to the launch pad.
After getting back Grant and Erica were given the same choice and Grant, of course, wanted to try this for himself. It was obvious that this unique opportunity was not without calculation as it was clear that the guide wanted remuneration. We obliged as this is likely a once in a lifetime opportunity.
We met our driver and we started the journey to the spa. It was frustrating for us as the tour company did not plan our tours correctly. Instead of going to a local spa we had to go to where we were in Day 2. A person can only be so agitated and any tension quickly melted away when the spa service began. After an hour Balinese massage, we completed a body scrub and a tub soak. Our relaxed bodies sauntered back to the car to be driven to dinner.
We ate dinner on the sand watching the sunset. It was nice, but not that memorable.
On the way back we asked our driver to stop at a store where we could pick up a few souvenirs. Bali is all about negotiation and being a tourist means everything is 5x as expensive as it needs to be. Our driver scored major brownie points with me as he took us to an actual store that had all of the souvenirs that flooded the market at rock bottom prices. We didn’t have to negotiate at all and were able to get anything we wanted. I stocked up and spent 1.5 million IDR...or $100 USD.
Day 4
Relaxing at the Cave; Sipping Holy Water
At dinner the day before we reviewed our itinerary and realized our tours had us zig-zagging throughout all of Indonesia. We decided to forgo going to the volcano we had planned and see the waterfall, elephant cave, and the holy spring temple. Traffic had played a large role in our choices as Bali has more traffic then one would imagine. The main road is the equivalent of one lane in the US divided into two with cars and scooters going in both directions.
As I tried to wake Grant up in the morning he politely asked to stay at the hotel and skip the day's activities. Erica and I then headed out as a duo to the waterfall. When we arrived we were shocked by the number of people. This was clearly a tourist hotspot as there were more people here than any of the previous locations we visited.
We got out and made our way down the never-ending staircase. Along the way, they had really great spots to take pictures. It was clear they were pandering to those that wanted selfies or Instagram moments, but we were rather receptive to this stopping at each spot. The waterfall itself was nice and we got some great photos. The way back up was torture and an elevator was not an option. Knowing we wanted to make this a quick tour we pressed on and were back on the road to the elephant cave temple.
Another tourist destination, the Elephant Cave Temple got its name for a cave that was used to pray to the elephant god, Ganesha. What was really cool was that there were statues that acted as water fountains you could drink from to purify yourself. Both Erica and I took part in this ritual drinking what and cleaning ourselves in this holy water. After wandering around a bit more we made our way to a few souvenirs shops. In an attempt to get the best deal we decided to speak in a different language. I showed my skill at Spanglish and Erica German. It sorta worked and we picked up a few of the souvenirs we missed the day before.
Our last stop was the holy spring temple where you actually bathe in the holy water. As customary, men and women are required to were sarongs into the temple. I grabbed mine, but Erica did not grab one as she had been cleared at the other temples with her long dress. When the time came to hop into the water I began waffling. Should I or shouldn’t I. I was a bit ill, the water was cold, I had open sores on my feet, but I said fine why not. Right, when I was about to get in an attendant stopped Erica and asked her to put on a sarong. You could only get this at the front as we didn’t have one and I took this as divine intervention to skip this one. We left after navigating through a maze of gift shops where they literally were grabbing you and forcing you into their stores.
Back at the hotel, we ate at the hotel restaurant, got another massage and swam at our pool.
Day 5
Scooter Crashing Requires Another Massage Before Performance
Our last day in paradise and are truly only free day of the trip. We got up slowly and went to pick up the scooters we rented from the hotel. After learning how to turn them on we made our way down to the rice fields. We stopped for a little while and walked around looking at the fields. Everything is so green and lush in a Bali because of the extensive canals they created that feed water everywhere.
We hopped back on our bikes and drove to a restaurant that was recommended. It was okay, but Grant was thrilled because they had chicken parmigiana. Having eaten nothing but rice and chicken for the last few days I could understand why he made the choice. After settling the bill, we decided to stop attempting to drive in this crazy city as we were going to get run over.
As we left Grant did not turn the bike hard and fast enough so he fell over instead of crashing into the ditch. With a little bit of a bruised ego, there was no convincing him of staying out any later. We rode back to the hotel where we decided to get more spa services. If this seems excessive to anyone—1. It definitely was, but 2. The services were so cheap that it seemed dumb not too. After a 2 hour massage and facial we cleaned up for the hotels pre-New Years party.
The hotel turned the top layer of a rice terrace into a stage where we were greeted with a show full of local villagers performing their various talents and an all you could eat buffet. The food was good and the talent was interesting. Having seen nearly every show in Vegas our standards are pretty high for variety shows. After watching the first act we definitely lowered those quite a bit. However, it was fascinating watching their talents and learning what Indonesia considered art. The show ended at the same time we needed to head to the airport so we slipped out a few minutes early.
We drove to the airport and started our 22-hour flight back home. The trip was great and our first of many trips to Asia. The lifestyle and living conditions are extremely different and really just shows how truly diverse the world really is.
