Posted by: Mrs. GM (Jenn's mom and our second guest writer!)
Let me first say that I am not blessed with the creativity nor wittiness that Jenn and Jonathan have, so I will do my best to relate our amazing adventures in Bali!!! After changing planes in Singapore I had a permanent grin on my face knowing that I would get to see Jenn and Jonathan in less than 2 hours as we were on our last leg of the 24 hour flight. Once we landed in Bali, customs, visas, baggage claims, etc. took way too long!!! As soon as we had taken care of all of the necessary business I ran out of the airport, and it only took me two seconds to find Jenn and Jonathan in the crowd. I did not want to let go!!! After all, it has been 7 months since seeing them last!
Let me first say that I am not blessed with the creativity nor wittiness that Jenn and Jonathan have, so I will do my best to relate our amazing adventures in Bali!!! After changing planes in Singapore I had a permanent grin on my face knowing that I would get to see Jenn and Jonathan in less than 2 hours as we were on our last leg of the 24 hour flight. Once we landed in Bali, customs, visas, baggage claims, etc. took way too long!!! As soon as we had taken care of all of the necessary business I ran out of the airport, and it only took me two seconds to find Jenn and Jonathan in the crowd. I did not want to let go!!! After all, it has been 7 months since seeing them last!
We grabbed a taxi, headed for our hotel, and were quickly introduced to the chaos of Bali driving. Before our arrival, J&J had found an adorable hotel called Agung Cottages which was nestled off of one of the busiest streets in Kuta Beach. It had an amazing pool, complementary breakfast, indoor restrooms, and air condition.
I was a little worried about finding accommodations that would please us, J&J, and the budget! Even though the flight to get to Bali was about $3500, once here, everything is very cheap! Our first night's stay was $38 a night. The streets were lined with a crazy amount of shops, one right after the other, all selling the same goods and all offering to give you "the best price." After overcoming our amazement of the hustle and bustle of the streets we had our first taste of Indonesian food at a quiet little restaurant near our hotel. The fried noodles with vegetables accompanied with an ice cold Bintang beer was very tasty! I was quite surprised and was happy that if I couldn't find anything else to eat, at least I would be able to eat fried noodles.
After lunch, we ventured down to Kuta Beach and spent the rest of the afternoon walking and talking along the beach. It wasn't the prettiest beach but we definitely got our fill of people watching. Along the way, we stopped at McDonald's (of all places) for an ice cream treat. McD's actually has a delivery service in Kuta! Exhausted, we headed back to our cottage and went to sleep.
The next morning, Jenn, Jon, and I went for a nice 3 mile run through the streets of Kuta and the beach. I get the feeling that the Balinese people are not that interested in running! We ended our run with a lovely breakfast of banana pancakes, eggs, and hot tea! They were amazing!! Jenn, Eddy, and I decided to do some shopping, while Jonathan rented a board and wanted to spend the morning surfing. The first stop we made was to a Harley Davidson shop upon Eddy's request. Did I say that EVERYTHING in Bali was cheap? Everything BUT Harley Davidson!
Across the street from HD was a galleria mall, so we ventured in to see how it compared to the ones in the states. After spending some more time shopping on the streets of Bali, it was time to meet Jonathan. We hopped into a taxi and were dropped off at a corner close to the beach. To our surprise,we saw Jonathan standing on the same corner right across the street coming toward us. We were so excited that we timed that so perfectly; however, very shortly we realized that he was not smiling. Not that he wasn't happy to see us, but he was carrying a surfboard that was completely broken in two.
Let me just say it was totally not his fault! It was an old board that broke while duck diving under a wave!! We decided to eat lunch and discuss his options before he just returned the pieces and coughed up the $150 broken board fee.
After lunch we (Eddy, Jenn, and I) went to get amazing $6 massages, while Jonathan sorted out the surfboard.
During the massage, Jenn and I were in one room and Eddy was separated from us by a partition. We look over the partition to see Lin's head (Eddy's masseuse) poking up over the partition as she is standing on top of Eddy to begin his massage. We were dying laughing at this site.
During the massage, Jenn and I were in one room and Eddy was separated from us by a partition. We look over the partition to see Lin's head (Eddy's masseuse) poking up over the partition as she is standing on top of Eddy to begin his massage. We were dying laughing at this site.
After finishing up the massages we walked back to the hotel to find Jonathan relaxing in our beautiful pool reading a book in much better spirits than when we left him.
He ended up going to the beach and selling the fins, leash, and broken board(which he didn't own, only rented) for a total of $50. He then went back to the surf shop, and bought the surfboard for $150. Indonesian people aren't the only ones that can negotiate!
On the third day, we rented motorbikes to explore the island. After all, I did say that I wanted to experience the life they have led for the last 11 months!! Did I really say that? We hopped on the bikes with a nervous pit in our stomachs. Eddy is a bona fide Harley rider (riding gear, helmets, proper American road etiquette), so this ride violated everything he has ever learned about riding! He had asked me the night before if I wouldn't freak out the next day while in traffic (which turned out to be the whole time). Most of the time I just closed my eyes. There is a crazy, organized, chaos to the madness that takes place on the streets of Bali. At first, one thinks that there is NO sense of organization, but there actually really is. Eddy slowly became accustomed to the madness - darting in and out of cars, bikes, and lanes of traffic. Every time J&J would look back at us we would smile and wave, but really our nerves were all bundled up into a knot right in the middle of our stomachs. (Bonn and Em - remember when we had that talk in Freebirds during our good-bye lunch before we embarked on the trip.) Now more than ever I was glad that we talked because I seriously didn't think I would ever see the two of you again!!
On the third day, we rented motorbikes to explore the island. After all, I did say that I wanted to experience the life they have led for the last 11 months!! Did I really say that? We hopped on the bikes with a nervous pit in our stomachs. Eddy is a bona fide Harley rider (riding gear, helmets, proper American road etiquette), so this ride violated everything he has ever learned about riding! He had asked me the night before if I wouldn't freak out the next day while in traffic (which turned out to be the whole time). Most of the time I just closed my eyes. There is a crazy, organized, chaos to the madness that takes place on the streets of Bali. At first, one thinks that there is NO sense of organization, but there actually really is. Eddy slowly became accustomed to the madness - darting in and out of cars, bikes, and lanes of traffic. Every time J&J would look back at us we would smile and wave, but really our nerves were all bundled up into a knot right in the middle of our stomachs. (Bonn and Em - remember when we had that talk in Freebirds during our good-bye lunch before we embarked on the trip.) Now more than ever I was glad that we talked because I seriously didn't think I would ever see the two of you again!!
We were also pretty impressed that Jenn could read The Lonely Planet Guide to Indonesia directing Jonathan where to go while we followed behind. Our adventure took us first to the beaches of Tegal Basar. I had never seen volcanic black sand beach before.
It sparkled like it had flecks of gold in it. I'm not sure if I would be interested in spending a day on a black sand beach but it was definitely worth seeing. An Indonesian couple was collecting rocks with a strainer and a basket and then would go back to the shore and sift them into different size bags. He would start with the smaller sifter and the smallest stones would fall through into the bag and then he would continue with the next size up until they would all be sifted. The beach entrance was lined with bags and bags of stones. They would then sell these bags to landscaping companies, etc. I found this quite interesting. Indonesian people seem to have nothing but time, so they will spend many tedious hours working on tasks that could be done more efficiently. We then proceeded up to the town and white sand beaches of Sanur. In the middle of the road, a local in a sarong was collecting money before you could continue. Since he looked pretty "official", we paid the beach fee and moved on. In our travels here, we have found out that many local people are able to make a couple of bucks that way!
We found a really good little cafe and stopped there for lunch which consisted of Chicken Kebab in a pita with pineapple, chicken, peppers, and paprika - yummy!
I am amazed by the food. I really thought I would have difficulty finding things to eat, but everything I have eaten has been fabulous! I thought this is where Julia Roberts lost weight! We then proceeded to hop back on the bikes and head home. We were several miles outside of the town of Sanur when we were pulled over by not one, not two, but THREE police officers. They proceeded to explain to us that we were not in the left turning lane when we turned at the light in the middle of town 5 miles back!!!! Good thing Eddy got his international license back in the States!! That $15 was definitely worth it. Let me just say that Indo police don't issue WARNINGS to tourists! I should have taken the HUGE target off of my back! We were fined 500,000 Rupiahs each (which is about $120 total) and were told to go to court the next morning to pay it OR we could just pay them on the spot and be done with it! So we negotiated him down to $60 total and told him to make sure he buys his wife a VERY nice present that evening!! Oh the joys of being a tourist!! Interesting note - they sell gasoline in glass bottles on the side of the road when you are traveling between two towns and run out of gas.
On the 4th day I finally get Bali!!!! I am in awe!!!! We were taken up to the Gunung Batur volcano and had an amazing breakfast of fried bananas and tea while overlooking the volcano! Amazing!!!
On the 4th day I finally get Bali!!!! I am in awe!!!! We were taken up to the Gunung Batur volcano and had an amazing breakfast of fried bananas and tea while overlooking the volcano! Amazing!!!
On the ride up to the volcano, we stopped to have coffee made by the Kope Leewok! Yes - exactly like in The Bucket List. The Kope Leewok eats a berry which when extracted from their waste produces a coffee bean. It is supposedly some of the world's best coffee.
We then donned helmets and rode bicycles down the mountain as we traversed through several villages and rice fields. It was a blast!!
The guide stopped at one of the homes along the way, and we were able to go inside. Every home that is of the Hindu religion has a temple in the home.
Something interesting we learned from the family was that when the son marries, he and his wife move in with his family, unless you only have a daughter. If you have all daughters then you choose one daughter to move in with you. The others move in with her husband's family. After the wedding, they are given 3 days of a honeymoon in a separate room of the house in hopes that the woman will become pregnant. After the baby is born, the placenta is placed inside a coconut and buried at the entrance of the house with a rock placed on top of it. This lets others know how many children are born to that family.
They also shared some food with us while there. I was pretty proud of myself for trying it especially after I saw the kitchen where it was prepared!
We finished the ride in the town of Ubud. Such a fun day!!! Once in Ubud we finally got to experience the task of finding a room! Jonathan stayed with our luggage while we traversed the streets finding a room that satisfied all of the requirements. Needless to say, I did not realize what an overwhelming task this has been for J&J having to do this every couple of days for the past 11 months! It all ended good because we found a beautiful little villa that backed up to some amazing rice fields!!
We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening hanging out in our pool drinking our new favorite beer - Bintang!!!!
The next morning after an amazing breakfast by the pool we went to the Monkey Sanctuary where the monkeys were roaming free and would come up to you taking the bananas right out of your hand!!! So fun!!
We then hiked to the edge of town to see some of the most amazing scenery I have ever seen - miles and miles of beautifully manicured rice fields!! Pictures will never be able to describe what we saw!! I loved it!!
On the way back down through town, we passed several homes where the moms were sitting on the porch picking lice out of their children's hair. Hanging right next to one of them was a sign advertising all of their salon and spa treatment options! Hahahahah!!!! I was sad to leave Ubud but can't wait to explore the beaches of Nusa Lembongan!!
Some of the things I will always remember about Bali: temples, offerings, scooters, scooter horns, roosters crowing, "best prices", Bintang beer, the Rupiah, crowded streets, crazy drivers, wetrooms, prayers being chanted over the loudspeaker, rice fields, banana pancakes, and hot tea, BUT my very favorite thing was getting to experience this once in a lifetime trip with Jenn and Jonathan!!! Thank you for this amazing adventure!!! I love you both very much!!!!!
Some of the things I will always remember about Bali: temples, offerings, scooters, scooter horns, roosters crowing, "best prices", Bintang beer, the Rupiah, crowded streets, crazy drivers, wetrooms, prayers being chanted over the loudspeaker, rice fields, banana pancakes, and hot tea, BUT my very favorite thing was getting to experience this once in a lifetime trip with Jenn and Jonathan!!! Thank you for this amazing adventure!!! I love you both very much!!!!!