Bali...before.

Hi everybody! I am actually posting my Bali experience from four years ago and right now I am...on Bali! Also, a disclaimer: Most of the information I put in my journal is from the people I meet at that location so if something is not accurate, I apologize. Sometimes I will google it but not always. So, let me take you to Bali...four years ago...

2/2/2008

Bali-wow! What an experience! Once we arrived at the airport it was already almost 8pm and we had (at least) a two hour car ride before we reached the villas we would be staying at. We were on the quiet side of the island. It was the side with villages instead of towns or cities. The first night we just went to bed because 10pm was now late for us. When you stay in places that get sun very early in the morning you find yourself waking up at 5am for no good reason. That makes 10pm late.

The next morning we quickly realized that there was no internet, no television and no phone. We didn’t even have conditioner but our villa was fantastic and the island looked, smelled and sounded amazing. So, it was easy to forget about things like tv.

We were staying in a fishing village called Amed. Our hotel was called Apa Kabar Villas. They made us feel so at home, I would compare the experience to staying at your grandma’s house. The staff becomes your little family for the week. Food in Bali is very healthy. There’s always steamed vegetables and, of course, fresh fish. There is no beef in Balinese cooking. Most Balinese practice Hindu and therefore the cow is holy and not to be eaten.

Most of this portion of the trip was for relaxation but we did partake in a couple of rigorous activities. The first was going to the temple of a thousand steps. At this point we had been to several temples with 300 steps or more and we figured 1,000 would be a bit of a challenge but still manageable. We took a local man with us to help guide us around and we used motor-scooters for our transportation. We got to the bottom of the mountain and learned that because we were using scooters we could take a road that was closed to cars. This road would take us past several hundred steps to the next platform. We decided it was a good idea and we were right! The climb was great! I like a good workout and this was definitely a workout. The steps are not like the stairs in your house. They are uneven, sometimes falling apart and they can be steep.

My hot wheels in Bali! Look how cool I am! Photo by J.A. Atwood.

There were, of course, monkeys everywhere. It was very warm and damp since we were climbing a mountain in the middle of a rainforest. Once we finally reached the top, we had to wear sarongs before we were allowed on the actual temple grounds. Now, my apologies to any Hindus out there, but I did not think there was anything particularly great about this temple. Maybe I didn’t catch any of the beauty we had heard about because I am not Hindu. Or maybe it was because the fog was thick that day and blocked the view from the top of the mountain. To me, the whole thing just looked like a bunch of small wooden platforms with one large platform. On the platforms there were statues draped in cloth. Not to mention, the dogs roaming around up there are a little freaky. Not like the ones you see roaming around the towns. These ones appear to be more on the aggressive side. Not my cup of kibble.

Some school children in Bali.

I was still glad we went. The walk through the rainforest and the difficult climb were good experiences. When we decided to head back down, we counted the steps. It was 1,769 stair steps from the second platform! Wow! We triple counted. There are definitely more than a thousand steps. Talk about false advertising! There are probably more than a thousand monkeys too!

The next couple of days were spent snorkeling and scuba diving. One of our two dive sites was the USS Liberty. It was carrying supplies when it was hit by a Japanese submarine in 1942. This was an extraordinary experience. Not only did we see all kinds of fish and wildlife, but we got to poke around a sunken ship!

There are so many great things about Bali. I could use the rest of my journal to describe all of the different people we met, little restaurants we ate at, the place where you buy fish and late night Connect Four tournaments with the girls working at the hotel. Instead of going on forever, I will just say that we had a fabulous time in Bali and met a lot of wonderful people.

A Balinese boy band warms up.

Their tour bus.

Next stop is Chiang Mai, Thailand!

Please do not alter photos in any way. Please only borrow photos for PERSONAL use and please ALWAYS give Dana R. Atwood credit for the pictures you use. Thanks!