Beautiful Bali

Go to Bali. Period. You'll thank me later. Seriously, if you ever have the chance to go to Bali for a honeymoon, vacation, just stopping through, whatever, you must go. It really is paradise on earth.

Nima and I spent last Thursday night through Sunday in the tropical island of Bali, one of the 7000 Indonesian islands. It was the second time to Bali for her, after a week-long trip with cousin Tejal a couple years back. They went a few months after the 2002 terrorist bombing, but did not feel any effects of the bombing except for minimal crowds and friendly locals welcoming and eager for tourists. In October 2005, another terrorist attack struck Bali, and again the island's tourist economy slowed down considerably.

Being in Bali 5 months later, I did not feel unsafe at any moment, and many security measures have been taken such as vehicle search checkpoints and a significant presence of security guards. In speaking with taxi drivers, hoteliers, shopkeepers and tour guides, the happy, peaceful people of Bali certainly welcome tourists with open arms, and I encourage all my friends and family to experience the wonderful little island.

For this blog entry, I'm going to try the chronological-account approach. Frankly, the photos along the way, available on my Smugmug site, really tell the story.

Thursday March 2, 4:45pm: Nima cut out of work early to get home and hop on a Singapore Airlines flight to Denpasar, Bali.

Thursday March 2, 5:15pm: Arrive at Changi international airport, 2:15 hours before our flight. Changi is probably the best airport in the world with such ameninites as free internet, ample lounge areas with TV, free movie theater, numerous restaurants, cheap booze at the duty free shop, and a beautiful orchid garden in the middle of the airport.

Thursday March 2, 7:30pm: Depart for Denpasar, Bali. Nima and I began watching Goodnight and Goodluck, only to have the last five minutes cut off because the flight ended. Dagger! I hope we nailed those commie bastards...

Thursday March 2, 9:30pm: Arrive in Denpasar international airport. Visas and customs were a piece of cake, so after a few minutes we made it outside to the warm weather and into a cab.

Thursday March 2, 10:00pm: Arrive at our hotel in Nusa Dua, Melia Bali Villas & Spa Resort. Nusa Dua is known for its high-end hotels. Melia Bali doesn't dissapoint, as its a first class resort with nice rooms, pleasant staff, perfectly manicured lawns and gardens, and great decor. The place reminded me very much of the Club Mahindra Resort we stayed at in Goa last year. Our room did have a slight musty smell because of the constant humidity, but that's to be expected. We got a great price at $70USD night, which included the daily breakfast buffet...

Friday, March 3, 6:30am: This is not a typo, but Nima woke up at 6:30am on Friday morning. Why? Because of the ridiculous breakfast spread. Fruits, eggs, fresh juices, variety of breads and pastries, pancakes, even Asian breakfast noodles! Nima swore the best breakfast she ever had was at the hotel she stayed in Bali last time, and this one topped it. Waking up at 6:30 to fuel up for our big day of touring Bali was a genius move.

Friday, March 3, 9:00am: After showering and dressing, we met our driver for the day in the hotel lobby. We hired a driver to take us around the island, through Sanur, up to the rice fields of Ubud, through to check out the handicrafts in Mas, over to see the the Tanah Lot temple, down through the surfer town of Kuta, and then back to the hotel. We arranged the driver through the hotel and paid $50 for it, which in real dollars is still a deal but in Bali could be had for half that if we bothered to bargain. For the full day tour, though, we wanted to go with something somewhat reputable rather than a guy off the street.

Friday, March 3, 11:00am: We spent quite a bit of the early part of the day trying to get some shopping out of the way. I was shopping for gifts for my family, and failed miserable on Friday. I'm sorry mom and Ami, I am horrible at visualizing what goes well in the house. Don't worry though, by the end of the trip Nima helped me get something. Hope you like it! Nima, on the other hand, had a vision that she wanted to get some statues for her eventual home. The driver took us to a few "galerias" which are really traps that earn the drivers commission. In one of the stores, Nima saw a pair Javanese wood statues, a man and woman praying, with which she fell in love. The shopkeeper quoted her 3,500,000 rupiah ($1 USD = 9200 Rp, so 3.5M is about $400USD). Nima drove him down to 3,000,000 but he wouldn't go any lower. Nima really wanted the statues but that was a lot of money to pay, so she decided to walk away, all bummed out. We walk around a little more and check out a few more shops, and wouldn't you know it, we found very similar statues in a small roadside shop run by two women with their young daughters running around in the shop (see picture). Their opening price for the statues was 750,000 Rp, one fourth of the best price the other guy offered. Nima got it down to 500,000 and was ecstatic to get her statues, and the shopkeeper was quite delighted to make her first sale of the day a big one. Just goes to show how much variance there is in the prices and the room left for bargaining in Bali. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the statues but when hopefully one day they'll be displayed in the home.

Friday, March 3, 11:53am: We made it up to Ubud where the popular rice fields of Bali can be seen. I was impressed by the way the Balinese were able to cultivate the hilly, mountainy land effectively to grow rice. The drive up to Ubud is also pleasant as you get a glimpse at the Bali countryside. We stopped briefly at a few points to take pictures.

Friday, March 3, 12:55pm: In need of some fuel we stopped at Gyathri Restaurant somewhere near Ubud. We had typical Indonesian dish, Nasi Goreng. It was quite good, especially with a Bintang to go along with it.

Friday, March 3, 3:06pm: Our next stop was Tanah Lot, a famous Balinese Hindu temple built on the ocean. We actually stopped at another temple (see photo) along the way to take the obligatory touristy pictures. The most amusing part of the stop was seeing a group of six giggly Japanese girls all dressed the same, taking all sorts of pictures and making funny noises. Nima characterized them as "living Anime" because they did seem cartoonish, and the new nickname for overzealous Japanese tourists - Kapow! - was born. Anyhow, Tanah Lot was cool though the tourist traps of "holy water" and the "holy snake" were annoying. Still, it was a nice sight.

Friday, March 3, approx 6:00pm: We cut our day of touring short, deciding to pass through the beach town of Kuta to arrange for a tour of Mt. Batur on Saturday morning, and trying to catch the sunset on the beach (no luck as it was quite cloudy). I had to stop by the ATM to get some cash, and I definitely saved my receipt as my withdrawal of 1,200,000 Rp and balance of 28,000,000 Rp made me feel rich. We were planning on checking out Ulu Watu, another temple on the water, but were simply exhausted. Instead we headed back to the hotel, freshened up, and had a surprisingly good asian-style dinner at the hotel restaurant. We turned in very early Friday night, as Saturday was to start at 2:00am...

Saturday, March 4, 1:45am: Disaster. Most of the time when you're up at 1:45am on a Saturday morning its because you're out from Friday night. Nima and I woke up this early to get ready for a 2 hour ride to Mount Batur, a volcano mountain in the northern part of Bali that offers a 2 hour hike, 800 meters up the mountain in order to catch a beautiful sunrise. Nima did this hike with Tejal the last time she was in Bali, and sold me on it with their pictures and her descripion from last time. The only downside to this journey was missing the hotel breakfast buffet that morning.

Saturday, March 4, 4:00am: We arrive the base of Mt. Batur right on schedule. I immediately realized that this hike at 4:00am, when its pitch dark, was the best opportunity ever for me to utilize my hiker's headlamp - and my dumb ass forgot to pack it for Bali so it was sitting at home in Singapore. Luckily our tour guide - Ketat - had some extra flashlights. Our hiking party included a Belgian girl backpacking through Asia and an elderly German woman who incessantly spoke about all the hiking and walking she's done in her life. The two were entertaining, especially when the Belgian went on an F-bomb tirade after learning the German paid 250,000 Rp for the trip, we paid about 325,000 each, and she paid a whopping 450,000. Anyhow, the hike was great, challenging yet rewarding with great views and a sense of accomplishment. I'll let the photos do most of the talking. I would recommend that anyone who does this hike wear tennis shoes, as I stubbed my toe often in the Tevas. It was the first time I hiked up volcanic rock, so that was cool. We actually made it to the sunrise viewpoint just after 5:00am, and spent about an hour up there taking in the beauty, socializing with the other hikers (a family of 5 from California, the tour guides, and the cook who made banana sandwiches for us). We were hoping to hike over to the hot springs, however it was too foggy to get there so we had to turn back. On the way down we caught many beautiful shots of the mountains and Lake Batur.

Saturday, March 4, 8:13am: We made it down to the bottom of the mountain and waited for our driver to come pick us up and take us back to the hotel. Nima and I were both exhausted and tired, so we agreed to go back for some beach time. The ride back was a little scary as our driver must have had another customer or something. He was never afraid to pass a scooter or car in front of us, demonstrating to me that driving in Bali is not for the faint of heart. We finally got back to the hotel just before 11:00am and headed to the beach for the afternoon. We decided to spend a few hours on the beach, after which Nima arranged for a special treat for us.

Saturday, March 4, 3:00pm: Nima booked a full spa treatment for the both of us, 3 hours in total including a full body massage, exfoliating scrub, and facial. Absolutely amazing. Guys, if you refuse to do such treatments because they're "gay", you're missing out because of your insecurity. I was so relaxed during the massage and scrub that I fell asleep and had no idea what went on for about half an hour. All I know is that I felt very refreshed and for $90 USD, I would do this sort of treatment every week!

Saturday, March 4, 6:33pm: After a very relaxing afternoon, we decided to head out for some dinner. I flat out refuse to be one of those people who stay in the resort and eat western food all the time, so we decided to take a walk through Nusa Dua and find a place to eat. We stumbled upon the Sogo Mall close by, a brand new shopping complex clearly geared towards the western tourists, full of high end shops. All along the way, you could see how the lack of tourism due to the bombings has crippled Bali. Right as we got outside the resort's compound there were several drivers waiting to provide services, and they were willing to bargain down to just over their break-even point. At the mall, the shops were full of store clerks with very few customers. The empty restaurants were inviting anyone who walked by to look at the menus.
It was truly a sad sight, especially knowing how wondeful and friendly Bali is, and how the people of the island depend on the tourism industry.

We decided to eat at an Asian fusion restaurant called Paon (Balinese for "kitchen"). We were both in the mood for seafood so we decided to share the seafood platter special. We learned from the waitress that the restaurant had opened just before Christmas and that business has been slow. That night, we were the second guests (we were there early) but as dinner went on the crowd swelled a bit. The food itself was quite good, particularly the grilled snapper and lobster tails. The steamed crab was dissapointing as it was the smallest crab I've ever seen served, but from what I've gathered I'll get my fix in Sri Lanka anyway. Overall, the huge seafood meal with appetizers, desserts and drinks came in under $40USD for the both of us. The same meal would have cost well over $100 back at home. After dinner we headed home and immediately passed out after another packed day.

Sunday, March 5, 7:30am: Our last day in Bali began like the first full one - up early for breakfast. Among the great spread was a selection of local fruits, and the rambutan was my favorite of the bunch.

Sunday, March 5, 7:30am: We headed out after breakfast to check out the Ulu Watu temple on the cliff. There are many pictures on my Smugmug site of the temple and the beautiful ocean crashing down below. One of the best things about Ulu Watu is that its one of the few temples that has remained a place for prayer, rather than simply a tourist attraction. Nima mentioned how last time she was in Bali more of the temples were strictly for religious use and those wishing to visit had to abide to the rules (such as proper attire, no photography, etc), but I can see how they've loosened the rules to attract tourism. Still, at Ulu Watu they require all visitors to dress appropriately (see pictures of me looking all goofy in a doti). Also, there are monkey all over the grounds of the temple, and apparently are very vicious to the point where you must remove all jewelry and eyeglasses, otherwise they'll get snatched. I picked the wrong day to skip contact lenses, so I had to walk around without my glasses on and only put them on when Nima gave me the green light. I managed to see the temple on the cliff and the beautiful ocean views. After the temple, we headed back to Nusa Dua for some lunch before heading off to the airport.

Sunday March 5, 2:44pm: Back in Nusa Dua, we spent some time perusing the street shops for gifts to bring home from Bali. I finally got some things for my sister and mother, hopefully they like them! As we were walking we came across Ulan Seafood restaurant, a place I had read about on the internet as a great place to get authentic Balinese seafood, so we decided to go there. They even had a wall of photos of distinguished statesmen and celebrities who've visited. I ordered the Ulan special, a grilled snapper with rice and veggies. Nima opted for the shrimp. My food was delicious, especially due to the native spices used on the grilled fish. I must say that I found it difficult to eat fish that's not a fillet, as you have to be careful about bones. But still the restaurant was indeed very good.

Once we finished lunch we collected everything from the hotel, jumped in a cab, and headed to the airport, en route to Singapore - wrapping up a great weekend in Bali.