The view from our private beach in Sanur.
We probably couldn't have chosen a more drastic change of scenery. We took a long taxi drive to the airport in Amman through a desert filled with brown boxy buildings. It was so dry we could hardly sweat even though it was over 90 degrees. Then we landed in Bali. A part of Indonesia that is basically a jungle island, with lush green trees peaking out from everywhere you can see. The buildings are incredibly ornate and anything but boxy. The second we stepped off the plane we were both dripping with sweat. Dry brown boxy to lush green ornate. It felt a little bit like Dorothy stepping out of her Kansas house into munchkin land.
When we were choosing our route around the world, we decided to add Bali onto the trip at the last minute. We had pretty well decided to cut it when we looked at the flight path from Amman to Sydney and realized that we would fly directly over Indonesia. It seemed silly not to stop. And I figured we would need a few days of rest in a tropical paradise to get over the jet lag.
The tricky thing about going to Bali was that I didn't do any research before we went. I did research on almost everywhere except for Bali, actually. In fact, I did so little, that up until two days before we got on our plane headed to our tropical paradise I (embarrassingly) still thought that Bali was a city. It's not, it's an Island with a ton of different cities. Obviously I haven't read 'Eat, Pray, Love'. Though, in the end, I think it was better to be a little under-researched. It helped us (me) to relax and feel content just laying on a beach staring at the ocean sipping fresh watermelon juice. It's amazing (and sad) I feel guilty doing that sometimes, right? I believe I have an extreme case of 'FOMS'* that makes it hard for me to relax sometimes.
Our first two days in Bali were spent in Sanur, a somewhat quiet beach town on the Southern Coast of the island. When we bought our RTW plane tickets as one big package our travel company threw in three nights of fancy hotels as a thank you - and we chose to spend two of those nights in Sanur. This meant we had a hotel with a private beach, a pool, bocce court, two-course breakfast and a heavenly shower. Honestly, it was hard to leave. All those luxury amenities were nice, but it was the shower that got me. I have gotten so used to camping showers or showers in peoples homes that I had forgotten how luxurious a fancy shower can feel. I think I took three in two days. I wish I could tell more stories about Sanur, but really, we went on a couple of walks around the town, went out to dinner twice, and other than that, we stayed pretty close to home.
When we were choosing our route around the world, we decided to add Bali onto the trip at the last minute. We had pretty well decided to cut it when we looked at the flight path from Amman to Sydney and realized that we would fly directly over Indonesia. It seemed silly not to stop. And I figured we would need a few days of rest in a tropical paradise to get over the jet lag.
The tricky thing about going to Bali was that I didn't do any research before we went. I did research on almost everywhere except for Bali, actually. In fact, I did so little, that up until two days before we got on our plane headed to our tropical paradise I (embarrassingly) still thought that Bali was a city. It's not, it's an Island with a ton of different cities. Obviously I haven't read 'Eat, Pray, Love'. Though, in the end, I think it was better to be a little under-researched. It helped us (me) to relax and feel content just laying on a beach staring at the ocean sipping fresh watermelon juice. It's amazing (and sad) I feel guilty doing that sometimes, right? I believe I have an extreme case of 'FOMS'* that makes it hard for me to relax sometimes.
Our first two days in Bali were spent in Sanur, a somewhat quiet beach town on the Southern Coast of the island. When we bought our RTW plane tickets as one big package our travel company threw in three nights of fancy hotels as a thank you - and we chose to spend two of those nights in Sanur. This meant we had a hotel with a private beach, a pool, bocce court, two-course breakfast and a heavenly shower. Honestly, it was hard to leave. All those luxury amenities were nice, but it was the shower that got me. I have gotten so used to camping showers or showers in peoples homes that I had forgotten how luxurious a fancy shower can feel. I think I took three in two days. I wish I could tell more stories about Sanur, but really, we went on a couple of walks around the town, went out to dinner twice, and other than that, we stayed pretty close to home.
Sneaky monkey unwrapping the duct tape.
After Sanur we decided to head up to Ubud, which is supposed to be the 'arts and crafts' capital of Bali. And, as we found out after we arrived, where she 'prays' in the book. Ubud seems to be the center of tourism in Bali (unless you count Kuta, which is mostly an Australian surfing town that we avoided), and not only are there hundreds of shops bursting with Balianese art, the food scene is supposedly the best on the island(!), and if that wasn't enough, there is a monkey forest filled with hundreds of mostly friendly tame monkeys that you can play with for about two dollars.
The monkey forest was the first stop on our itinerary. I miss cuddling with my cats in San Francisco so much I take almost any opportunity to interact with cute potentially cuddly animals. I went into the monkey forest with high hopes. Unfortunately, the monkeys are a little more scheming and a little less cuddly - their social graces were not their strongest suit. As we walked around we ooh'd and ahh'd about the little baby monkeys (not actually as cute as you would think) and then winced as adults would get into fights over the babies, which usually involved one adult grabbing one baby ear and one grabbing the other and both pulling - all while the baby shrieked in pain. Not so cuddly. The monkeys are trained to know that visitors with cameras often bring food, so the moment you sit down anywhere they come to inspect. But if you don't have anything for them, they lose interest quickly. Unless of course, you have a water bottle. Who knows why these interest them so much, but they can't keep their little monkey hands off of them - which is why there is a huge sign at the entrance of the park asking for people NOT to bring in their water bottles.
I think you can see where this is going. Steph had a water bottle, and decided that since it wasn't plastic, then it was no big deal and the monkeys wouldn't be interested. Wrong. A couple tried to sneak it out of her backpack, but we thwarted their plans. Steph was quick to shoo them away, which seemed to work - until they tried a different tactic. They waited until we were sitting down, then they double teamed her. One came up from one side, pretending to be cuddly, and as soon as she was distracted (and I was distracted by taking a picture of said cuddly monkey), another came from the other side and grabbed the bottle and ran. Sneaky little things. She tried to get it back, but he stared her down and showed her his teeth. She approached, but he reared back and threatened to attack. Then he taunted her by pulling off the duct tape that she keeps wrapped around the water bottle for emergency use. Finally we had to get assistance from a park attendant, who, after a very exaggerated eye roll threw a few bananas at the monkey who grudgingly traded the bottle for food. Like I said, these guys are smart.
The monkey forest was the first stop on our itinerary. I miss cuddling with my cats in San Francisco so much I take almost any opportunity to interact with cute potentially cuddly animals. I went into the monkey forest with high hopes. Unfortunately, the monkeys are a little more scheming and a little less cuddly - their social graces were not their strongest suit. As we walked around we ooh'd and ahh'd about the little baby monkeys (not actually as cute as you would think) and then winced as adults would get into fights over the babies, which usually involved one adult grabbing one baby ear and one grabbing the other and both pulling - all while the baby shrieked in pain. Not so cuddly. The monkeys are trained to know that visitors with cameras often bring food, so the moment you sit down anywhere they come to inspect. But if you don't have anything for them, they lose interest quickly. Unless of course, you have a water bottle. Who knows why these interest them so much, but they can't keep their little monkey hands off of them - which is why there is a huge sign at the entrance of the park asking for people NOT to bring in their water bottles.
I think you can see where this is going. Steph had a water bottle, and decided that since it wasn't plastic, then it was no big deal and the monkeys wouldn't be interested. Wrong. A couple tried to sneak it out of her backpack, but we thwarted their plans. Steph was quick to shoo them away, which seemed to work - until they tried a different tactic. They waited until we were sitting down, then they double teamed her. One came up from one side, pretending to be cuddly, and as soon as she was distracted (and I was distracted by taking a picture of said cuddly monkey), another came from the other side and grabbed the bottle and ran. Sneaky little things. She tried to get it back, but he stared her down and showed her his teeth. She approached, but he reared back and threatened to attack. Then he taunted her by pulling off the duct tape that she keeps wrapped around the water bottle for emergency use. Finally we had to get assistance from a park attendant, who, after a very exaggerated eye roll threw a few bananas at the monkey who grudgingly traded the bottle for food. Like I said, these guys are smart.
A specialty of Bali - roasted pig with fried rice and pickled vegetables.
Apart from the monkey forest we rented a scooter and buzzed around the island a bit. Steph has a motorcycle that she misses dearly in SF, so was excited to be on two wheels again. Though, I have to say, being on the back of a 125cc scooter for six hours is not exactly comfortable. We rode through the rice patties and villages, attempting to get a sense for what life on Bali is actually like. Not an easy thing to do in one or two days, but I can say, Bali is an absolutely beautiful place, and deserves more than the total of six days we spent there. The food is also good, and we went pretty far out of our way at times to get the 'best' or this or the 'best' of that. We tried loads of fried rice dishes with vegetables and egg. We tried roasted pig with spicy salsa and rice. Noodles. Fruit juices. Fried duck. I made a 24-hour ahead reservation at one restaurant that specialized in 12-hour smoked duck for two. The food was good, but not mind-blowingly delicious like Thailand was when I was there several years ago. Can't have everything I suppose.
We've now been in Australia for a week, and we're in Melbourne now, getting ready to head out onto the Great Ocean Road, rated one of the best road-trips in the world. We've been doing quite a lot of camping, and so far Australia is pretty amazing. Even more beautiful than I ever could have hoped for. Can't wait to tell you about it.
-EC
* 'Fear Of Missing Something'
We've now been in Australia for a week, and we're in Melbourne now, getting ready to head out onto the Great Ocean Road, rated one of the best road-trips in the world. We've been doing quite a lot of camping, and so far Australia is pretty amazing. Even more beautiful than I ever could have hoped for. Can't wait to tell you about it.
-EC
* 'Fear Of Missing Something'
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