Day One in Bali
Monkey Temple Closed for Dancing
It’s great to have a plan. The problem is when you’re the only one following the plan. Upon landing, we contacted Erica as she was joining us for the trip. She mentioned that we needed to ask for an “express pass” at customs. Evidentially, if you pay $20 US Dollars to a customs attendant you get to skip the line. We paid, got our stamp and made it through in 10 minutes.
This must have messed up the driver because there was no driver waiting for us. We found a taxi driver and headed to the villa. Fast forward an hour and we are there...or so we thought. The driver told us it was right down a path, but due to the terrain, it would not be possible to drive down there. So we grabbed our bags and were off. The only problem was that it was not the correct spot. We entered some random property and called the hotel. They were confused and not helpful. We decided to take the other path and we got to what we thought was our hotel. So at the front desk, the lights were on, but no one in site. All of a sudden a man jumps up from behind the desk who does not speak any English. Thinking this was the person we just spoke with we attempted to request our keys. The only problem was they didn’t have our reservation. Not a shocker since it was the wrong hotel. Fortunately, I had printed a receipt and they showed us the correct area to go. Mind you this is about 3 am Bali time and we are running on minimal food and sleep. So the fact that we found our hotel and were not sleeping in rice patties is a miracle.
The villa we stayed in was just wonderful. The views from our bed/deck were picturesque and the infinity pool was exquisite. The decoration surrounding the area created a peaceful and tranquil environment ripe from our Western culture to exploit. Here are some photos.
We woke from what I would consider a nap since we got minimal sleep and began our tour for that day. We were a bit late because Erica could not figure out how to unlock the bathroom. Turning the handle was the key. I walked over turned the handle and magically it unlocked.
Our first stop was the Ubud Monkey Forest. This area is known for their wild monkey population who are revered and protected. Everywhere you looked was a monkey and they were a bit curious about us. If you ever visit think twice before bringing food In here as they will attack you. We politely gave one monkey a bottle of water to drink. When I tried picking up the bottle to recycle it glared and showed its teeth at me. The monkey could litter.
Traffic is horrible in Bali. There is always a celebration where they just walk the street and block it for cars. Add that and the fastest our driver would max go 60 Kmh (which in miles is like 30 mph) and it felt like an eternity. Finally, we crawled to a temple and took lots of pictures. It was beautiful to see and you could see the level of dedication these individuals put into their religion, which was inspiring.
Our last stop was another temple on the water. It was very pretty but not as impressive as the landlocked temple we visited. This temple just so happened to have a Fire Dance, which we stayed back to attend. Having been to a few fire shows, we had an idea of what to expect. But, nope we’re we wrong. Random flying monkeys, lighting a fire from brush and chanting from 70 men. That one was a new one for me.
Our tour guide then took us out for our dinner. The only problem was that the restaurant closed. Not sure where the miscommunication happened, but we doubled back and ate at an Indian restaurant. It was not stellar, but I guess food in the stomach is better than none at all.
The night ended with a 2-hour car ride home and a fine fair-well to the first night in Bali.
Day Two
Muddy Mess at the Beach
Exhausted from day one activities we toned it down. All we had planned was ATVs, parasailing, fly fishing, glass bottom boat, and Turtle Island. Basically, two half-day tours combined to create a really epic day.
The day started out right. The hotel had free yoga so Erica and I attempted this after breakfast. Not knowing my rights and lefts proved to be my demise as it was obvious that
I was clearly out of my element. It was fun though stretching and at least I can say that I attempted yoga in Bali.
Grant woke from his hibernation and the three of us were driven to our first stop of the day— ATVs. We had to wait a few minutes due to multiple tours going on, but eventually, we were off. The ATV tour was through rice fields, jungle and mud...lots and lots of mud. We got to really be as rough on these machines as we wanted and were really even encouraged to do so. I mean they literally had a mud circle where they let all 6 ATVs go in at once and proceed to cut each other off and splash as much mud on the surrounding people. This would have never been even fathomed in America, but here anything goes.
Leaving a muddy mess, but with a smile, on our faces, we headed to do our water sports. This is when it turned south. You hear of tourist traps and we found ourselves faced with one of the worst. Upon entering we had everything mapped out and planned, but the boat guides had a different idea.
The first thing we were told was that the parasailing was canceled due to the wind. However, the parasailing adventure was not. Confused? Yes so were we. The winds were too strong to do parasailing, but you could do a parasailing adventure for $20 each. Huh? It was obvious we were not from Kansas and were unwilling to let this go. Our hired tour guide stepped in and stated it was now $10. We grudgingly paid as we were not going to miss this opportunity over $30.
So we started with parasailing. It was cool. We had done it once before, but this was Erica’s first time. I went with her and we talked the entire time. It was really awesome being up that high and seeing everything that was around us.
The next adventure was fly fishing. This term does not mean the same thing as it does in the US. It means that you crawl into a tube with wings and are dragged so fast from the attached boat that the tube catches air. So you are literally flying in the air like a fly fish. The closest comparison I could think of is Aladdin’s carpet, but with water and a high-speed boat.
What was extremely fascinating or terrifying was that there was a Balinese man that was on the same tube with us. His sole purpose was to balance the weight when the wind caught the tube so that we would not flip around or fly off. Grant loved it so much that he paid to do it twice.
The final activity was a doozy in all the worst way. A glass bottom boat that took us to turtle island. First, the boat captain spoke no English, which was the only individual that did not at this establishment. Worst of all there was absolutely nothing to look at in the boat. It was confusing if we were to see fish on the way there or back or both. The water was extremely murky and Erica got excited to see a leaf. Dud!
The glass bottom boat was just an extra attraction they could hawk as it really was just a ferry ride to turtle island. The island itself was disgusting. No free range turtles just captive turtles. It was quite sad to see the state of some of these animals. We tipped our guide who showed us the beach who does this as a volunteer. A volunteer who is employed by the turtle beach tour company and works for tips. It was just strange all around and we all got bad vibes. We escaped as quickly as possible to return back to our villa for a nice dip in the pool and room service.
