Being tourists in Bangkok

King’s Birthday

Sunday, we decided to go to the National Museum but when we arrived, we discovered it was closed due to the King’s birthday celebration (his birthday is actually Dec. 5^th but there’s a national holiday on the 24^th). So we walked around but were harassed by tuk tuk drivers wanting to take us to “free” temples and a shopping centre. We were not interested in going shopping but they take you there in order to receive gas coupons. I was getting quite frustrated and discouraged so I headed home. Ian stayed and despite the heat and crowds, walk the streets.

          

We went to dinner at Cabbages and Condoms a restaurant recommended in several guidebooks. We took a taxi but it was close to the Asoke Skytrain station so we easily took the train home.

All proceeds of this restaurant go to PDA social programs in Thailand. PDA, or Population and Community Development Association is a sex education / AIDS prevention program established over 30 years ago. It started out promoting family planning to Thai families which at that time averaged 7 children per family. The restaurant promotes better understanding and acceptance of family planning and the health and safety aspects of condom use. There is a wishing well where all coins go to sex education programs and several mannequins dressed in condom outfits are scattered throughout the restaurant. It’s hard to believe but their clothes are indeed made of condoms:

Ian and I chose to eat outside with fans helping keep us cool. Tables were under a canopy of vines and the branches of large trees and condom covered lamps light the area.  The menu was fairly extensive. We ordered chicken and shrimp dim sum (too sweet for me), papaya salad and crab curry. The salad was good but the crab curry was amazing; it makes my mouth water just thinking about it. The food with an ice tea and water came to about 23 dollars.

Instead of after dinner mints – well, you can see for yourself.

Wat Pho

As it was a national holiday, we didn’t know what was open so we played it safe and went to Wat Po, one of the largest (20 acres) and oldest temples in Bangkok. A temple has stood on this site since the 16^th Century but in 1781, Rama I ordered the original Wat to be completely rebuilt as part of his new capital (Lonely Planet’s Bangkok, City Guide).

Under Rama III (1824 – 51) a massive reclining Buddha was built and Wat Pho became Thailand’s first university. I hope you can get a sense of how large the statue is:

It is made of plaster and finished in gold leaf with mother-of-pearl inlay for the feet.

The 46 m long / 15 m high reclining figure depicts the passing of Buddha into nirvana. Note the serene expression:

The statue is inside a large building that was getting a facelift on the outside. The inner walls are covered in murals that I believe illustrate principles of religion, science, and literature. The area around the statue is fairly narrow so you can’t get far enough away to take a photo from the side so tourists wait at the feet for an unobstructed view. At the back of the statue, for a donation you receive a small bowl of coins which are dropped, one at a time, into the 108 (corresponding to the 108 auspicious characteristics of Buddha) bronze bowls lining the wall. The donation helps the monks run the temple complex and the act is for good luck. The sound of the coins being dropped by all the tourists is echoes through the hall.

On the grounds, four towering stupas commemorate the first 4 Chakri kings while the 91 smaller stupas carry the ashes of lesser royal descendants. All were covered in colourful ceramic tile.

Colour is everywhere – the roof tiles are orange, green, and blue; buildings are white washed with brilliant red doors; grey stone statues guard doorways; and trim sparkles as the sun hits it.

The main temple houses Rama I’s remains at the base of the Buddha figure.  In all temples shoes are removed and in this one, if remaining for any length of time, you’re asked to take a seat on the carpet.

Several galleries extending between the 4 chapels feature 394 gilded Buddha images in various poses.

Small Chinese rock gardens, some with water, are scattered throughout the grounds. These provide shade, respite and decorations.

The place was stunning and everywhere you looked, picturesque. We loved being there.

Terminal 21

We capped the day off with a visit to yet another mall (Terminal 21) and a movie. The mall is set up like an airport with each floor representing a different theme: Caribbean, San Francisco, London, Istanbul, and Tokyo. The information counter was a mock check-in counter and there were many escalators, one spanning three floors.  One floor seemed to have nothing but designer T-shirts in the tiniest stores and the public bathrooms had the most interesting toilets. Attached to each one was an electronic panel of choices: you could alter the temperature of the seat (yes, it was heated) and the position, speed and temperature of two nozzles (one for water and the other for air). This could eliminate the need for toilet paper…

Across the street was an old style movie theatre where for 100 baht each (a little more than 3 dollars), we saw the Lars Von Trier’s movie Melancholia. It’s described as a ‘beautiful movie about the end of the world.’ We liked it – it was unique.

We walked along the busy street, weaving among vendors selling street food, clothes, purses, nail polish, etc.  Several stores had walls of sandbags piled high in case of flooding and the 7-11 store was almost empty because the flooding was preventing them from getting supplies. Apparently Bangkok has about three thousand 7-11 stores.

The flooding concerns around the city are affecting people in different ways. The guy next door to us has put up a cement wall across his driveway hoping to prevent flood water from entering his house while others continue to stockpile water and food. It is getting more difficult to find water. The other night we bought about 6 small bottles from a Subway because our grocery store was out. We are filling our empty bottles with sink water as advised by the government.

The other night there was an incredible torrential downpour with thunder and lighting. We watched it approach from the safety of our room. In no time, the apartment buildings close by became invisible from the density of the rain and sheets of water hit the rooftops across from us. Ten minutes later it was over but trees and plants were knocked down and streets flooded. The river around Old Bangkok overflowed and people were walking in knee high water. 

Ian and I had booked tickets to see a show at 8:15pm so we had to go out (by this time it was only spitting). Ian carried me across a large puddle at the end of our lane because my shoes are not the kind that should get wet. I got splashed by a car but luckily just my legs got wet. We kept an eye open for a taxi (when the red light in the front window is on, it’s available) but all were taken so we headed for the Skytrain.

The Skytrain was packed going east. I’ve never seen so many people lined up for a train. Luckily, the train west wasn’t so bad. The train exit is right at Asia Hotel where our show Calypso Cabaret was playing. We had dinner at the hotel ‘coffee shop’ which despite the name had a wide selection of food choices. My salmon was fantastic while Ian’s Hawaiian pizza wasn’t the best.

Calypso Cabaret

Shows performed by transvestites are popular in Bangkok and this show was recommended in several guidebooks. There were guys, girls and transvestites dressed in glamorous costumes lip synching to songs from all over the world and in different languages: Korean, French, Japanese, English, and Spanish.  It was probably one the strangest shows Ian and I have ever seen. Some performers could lip synch so you could hardly tell while others seemed to be mouthing a completely different song than the one playing. Transitions were not always smooth and pauses and blackouts were irritating. A few of the numbers were very strange. I had a perplexed look on my face most of the time and probably laughed and smiled when I shouldn’t have; but overall it was a lot of fun and the girls all line up afterwards so you can get your photo with them (which of course, we didn’t).

Arrival in Bangkok, Thailand

Our flight to Bangkok on Airasia was a bit bumpy but uneventful. I had forgotten that I didn’t order us a meal so we went hungry on our 3 hour plus flight. As we flew nearer to Bangkok, the flooding became visible. The rains since July have been excessive causing Thailand’s many rivers to overflow in central east Thailand and north of Bangkok. The river that runs through the city is swollen and many houses are surrounded by water. Ian and I had been watching the situation carefully from Indonesia before deciding to continue on with our trip to Thailand. Denise – the owner of the house we were staying in – had checked with the housekeepers and we were assured that there was no flooding in the neighbourhood.

The line up at airport immigration was long and slow but went smoothly. The officer didn’t ask us any questions, took our passports and gave us a 30 day stamp. We had received directions from Denise on how to get to her house so we went downstairs and paid 70 baht for two tickets on the airport rail to Makasan station. From there we took a taxi for 100 baht (including tip – it was about a 25 minute ride). The exchange rate is roughly 30 baht / 1 dollar. Taxis are cheap and all use a metre starting at 35 baht.

The house is about a 20 – 25 minute walk from the main road Thanon Sukhumvit. It’s a townhouse and our room is the only one on the top floor – which is a long way up. The room is quite large with a/c, couch, queen sized bed, storage, windows, and separate rooms for toilet and shower/sink area. There are two female housekeepers: Massi – who is Filipino, and Khun Pa – Thai. Massi lives on the first floor at ground level, the kitchen/dining area is on the second and third, then Sara is renting the room on the 4th, the 5^th is the master bedroom which is currently empty, the 6^th floor has an outdoor area, and then we are on the 7^th floor. Each set of stairs isn’t a full set, but that’s still a heck of a lot of stairs to climb. This picture was taken from the 4^th level and Ian is standing on the stairs between the living and dining areas.

There are two cats and a small beagle that socialize with guests and all are friendly.

Breakfast isn’t included but laundry is and we prefer that. We can use the kitchen, there's WIFI included and the livingroom TV has HBO and Starmovies - all for the bargain price of 32 dollars a night. The house is a bit further from the main road than I expected – but since cabs are so cheap, that shouldn’t be too much of an issue. We unpacked our stuff and off we went to explore the neighbourhood.

We walked to the closest mall called Emporium which has some pretty high end stores like Gucci, Prada, Coach, etc. Our guidebook recommended an inexpensive food hall on the top floor so that’s where we headed. We found an area called the International Food court with several different restaurants (seafood, Italian, pizza, Japanese) but we ate Thai of course. I had fried noodles with shrimp and Ian had a spicy Thai salad and both were excellent, averaging about 4 -5 dollars each. After eating we walked about a bit and discovered that we had missed the place recommended in our book and had actually eaten in a different area.

The Food Mall ran along the west side of the building with great views of a park. Here you bought coupons which you used as cash to purchase your food.  Several food stalls lined the wall opposite the windows and you could get noodles, soups, and curries for as little as 1.50 or as much as 3 dollars. All unused coupons had to be redeemed same day for your money back.

On the same floor is an amazing supermarket with a variety of food items – better than our supermarkets at home. It was hard to resist doing some grocery shopping. Beside this was of course a Starbucks, but better yet, on the top floor (there are 6 floors in this mall) was a movie theatre.  We purchased two tickets to see Contagion for about 6.50 each – more expensive than Indonesia but cheaper than Canada. Like Indonesia, you reserve your seats in advance and the seats are spacious and comfy.  Before the movie started we had to stand in respect to the King of Thailand while a montage of images of the King played before us. Thais take their royalty seriously and it would very disrespectful to ignore this.

The movie was okay, some dull moments, but we were thrilled to be seeing a movie after such a long time. The movie ended late and the mall was closed so it was a bit of challenge finding the exit. We stopped in at Villa Market on Suhkumvit on the way home and bought some water.

When we got home, our key would not open the door so we were locked out. Ian rang the bell and Sara, who was still up, opened the door for us. This was the first time we met.

Day 2 – Jim Thompson’s House

We were up early because Massi was making us a welcome breakfast at 8am: eggs, toast, muesli and yogurt, tea and coffee – all good. Today we were visiting Jim Thompson’s house via taxi.

Jim Thompson was an American architect who volunteered for service in World War II. At one point he was sent to Bangkok where he fell in love with Thailand. After leaving the service, he returned here to live permanently focusing his attentions on the silk industry. Worldwide, he was known as a highly gifted designer and textile colourist.

He constructed his own house using 6 teak buildings, many of which were 2 centuries old. They were dismantled, reassembled and joined together on his property. The houses are elevated a full story above ground and follow Thai traditions. Doorways have high platforms so you have to step up and over to get into a room – this was to keep babies in and keep evil spirits out. Throughout the house, there are several paintings, statues and antiques. Thais believe it is bad luck to keep anything broken in one’s house but Jim Thompson had several items that were broken e.g. Buddhist statues with no heads or arms. Some think that this was the cause of his demise. When he was 61 years old, he disappeared on a visit to Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands without a trace.

He left behind quite a legacy. His silk products are quite lovely (but expensive!).

We walked down the road to find some lunch and a Thai gentleman worried about our safety. He asked us where we were from and was thrilled to hear we were from Toronto because he was travelling there mid-November to meet with a friend. This friend turned out to the owner of the first Thai restaurant, Young Thailand. Ian not only knew of the restaurant but owns the cookbook. We chatted for some time warning him about the cold winters in Canada and headed on our way.

I’m not sure how we knew about the food court in MBK mall (perhaps the taxi driver told us?) but we headed there for lunch. We followed the signs and ended up in an area with an extensive selection of international foods: Japanese, Thai, Middle Eastern, Greek, etc – similar to the one at the Emporium. We both had Thai – Ian had a delicious curry and I had scrumptious noodles; it was about 3 – 4 dollars a dish. It was déjà vu because after our meal, we discovered another floor with even cheaper food but we were quite happy with the food we had had so we filed away the information for another time.

After lunch, we headed to Siam Centre and the very upscale mall called Paragon. On the top floor was a cinema and we decided to catch a 5:00 show of The Three Musketeers. The woman behind the counter explained that the 5:00 show was the VIP theatre but the only other showing of the movie was the 4D experience (involving moving seats which neither of us wanted) so we reserved our seats at the VIP theatre. After we paid for our tickets, we realized we had just paid about 26 dollars a ticket – oops!

The VIP centre was separate from the other theatres and we had a seat in the lounge area where we received our complimentary tea and coffee. The bathrooms were impressive – each stall was large with the biggest toilets I’ve ever seen (the term throne comes to mind). The theatre itself was intimate with leather lounge lazy boy chairs with foot rests that go horizontal. We had pillows and blankets and there was a small wall around us providing total privacy.  We stood for the King (and noted that some foreigners beside us did not – the only ones who didn’t).  The movie was pretty bad – which was unfortunate because it had potential. I expected a similar experience to the one in Indonesia, but no one ever came to get our order so I went without popcorn (maybe the first time ever??!). Oh well….

We took the Skytrain home and had our first Bangkok rainfall but it didn’t last long. We stopped for a bite and headed home.

Day 3

Over breakfast we chatted with Sara who had been sent home from work the day before because of the worry over potential flooding. The Bangkok canals had been closed to prevent flooding in the city but this meant that all the water to the north of the city had nowhere to go since it needed to travel through Bangkok to get to the ocean. The Prime Minister was ordering the Bangkok government to open the canals to let the water through but the canals could overflow since there were millions of tons of water needing to travel through these canals. Sara had been sent home to stockpile water and food and she had gone to 5 stores before she found some water (which explained why the convenience store closest to us hadn’t had water the night before). So Ian headed out to search for water and bought 5 large bottles. Sara also filled her tub with water just in case.

Ian and I were figured there was no point in getting overwrought so we carried on as usual. I decided to get my hair done because it had been 11 weeks since I had my last cut and colour, and I asked Massi and Khun Pa if they knew someone who could do it. They took me down the street to a small salon but light brown was the closest colour to blond that the stylist had. So Ian and I headed to the Emporium. On route, a tuk tuk went by and we decided to take it up to the mall. It was fairly comfortable and cost about $1.50 for the ride. This wasn’t the tuk tuk we took but the photo below shows what one looks like.

Salon de BKK is located on the 2^nd floor of the Emporium. I went up to the counter and asked if they had my colour (bleach blond) and a very funky fellow replied “of course.” He spoke fluent English and started explaining what he needed to do my hair to treat the roots and I was confident I was in good hands. They scheduled me in and Ian and I went to grab a bite for lunch.

This time we went to the cheap food court and Ian bought 200 baht worth of coupons. He got a spicy noodle soup and I got some green curry. Ian’s meal was fantastic but I am sad to say mine was pretty bad. It had nondescript patties of some sort of reconstituted meat that was pretty tasteless and the spongy texture was yucky. Can’t win them all!

I returned to the salon and was shown a seat. Tom (the funky guy) runs the place and it turns out, he lived in Vancouver for 7 years and his partner is a Canadian from North Bay. What a small world! We hit it off, chatting the entire time.  I was spoiled rotten and pampered by a very attentive staff.  I received a bottle of water and a yummy cappuccino and a great haircut.

I met Ian who was waiting patiently at Starbucks, and we wandered around for a bit till dinner time. I was determined to try the food court again, so we returned and ordered pad tai – which I am happy to say, was yummy and cheap.

Day 4 – Siam’s Ocean World

Today we headed back to Siam Centre and one of the largest aquariums in Southeast Asia. We timed our arrival with lunchtime and were lucky to again find a food hall. This food court was bright, busy, and had many more food stalls than the one at the Emporium. We purchased a card and loaded it with 400 baht and ordered a spicy noodle soup and kiwi iced tea. Everything was yummy. We returned the card and received our refund for money we hadn’t spent and headed downstairs for the aquarium.

It was quite pricey, about 30 dollars each, considerably higher than the one in Kuala Lumpur. There was a large aquarium with a walkway through it like the one at Petronas Towers, except there wasn’t a moving walkway and was more crowded with fish and sharks. One shark had some sort of dental problem; its upper teeth protruded out as if it had a bad overbite – very scary looking. There was a variety of fish and we enjoyed seeing huge king crabs and lobster; seahorse; moray eel; a massive parrotfish; rock, scorpion and lion fish (a brush with a scorpion fish can kill a man in two hours); pineapple fish (yes, they do resemble pineapple); different varieties of jellyfish (some very colourful ones); frog fish; and nautilus. After several hours at the aquarium, we wandered the Paragon mall with its fancy stores and canal of water (reminds me of Vegas hotels) and had a coffee break.

On the way home, I stopped for an hour foot massage for 250 baht (about 9 dollars). The place was simply decorated with lazy boy chairs lined up against one wall and fish tanks on the other. The fish spa is where you can allow the tiny fish to eat away the dead skin and calluses off your feet (yuck). I leaned back in one of the few empty chairs and one of the girls washed my feet before going to work on them. Most of the place was filled with men. The technique was quite similar to the massage I had in Indonesia except for the addition of a wooden tool used to apply pressure to various spots on your feet and on each toe. After a short back and arm massage I was finished – and feeling pretty good.

For dinner we decided to go with Sara’s recommendation of Bella Napoli, a pizza place on our street soi 31, just up from Sukhumvit. The place was packed with only a few empty tables so we were lucky to get a spot. The manager is Italian and the Italian owner, who has lived in Thailand for 20 years, opened the restaurant 10 years ago. We had the Stagioni: 2 slices of mushroom, 2 of artichoke, 2 of ham, and 2 of spinach. The pizza was light and tasty and went perfectly with the house wine. We plan on returning.

Kuta, Bali

Here we are in the popular tourist destination Kuta, Bali on the west coast. Again, I booked accommodation through airbnb, especially because Kuta is expensive (we are now getting into prices equal to Canada) and we ended up in a boutique hotel off the busy section of Kuta. Our room is trendy with super comfy beds and a rooftop pool with a view of Kuta and the water.

So far, Ian and I are not impressed with Kuta. It’s a bit like Sanur and Candidasa with one main street lined with open air restaurants, only these restaurants are massive, pricier, and far more touristy. There are more tourists than locals here. As you walk the street (there is a sidewalk!) locals call to you as you pass by: “Taxi?” or “Massage please?” (Do you want a massage?). Ian and I say – no thank you – and they reply: you’re welcome.

The beach is a good distance from our hotel with a large stretch of white sandy beach and the sun is hot. There are some large waves but not Hawaii sized. I walked down to the beach twice and Ian went down there a third time. Not a lot of people were swimming (because of the waves) but many were trying to surf. The boards are smaller than the ones we’ve seen on TV, I guess because the waves are not as big. There is a small mall close by with a Burger King, Pizza Hut, Dominos and of course, Starbucks. Ian counted three Starbucks here.

I didn’t think we could be any lazier than what we were in Sanur but in Kuta, we managed it just fine. We avoided the beach and stuck to the hotel pool, swimming several times a day.  Lunch and dinner were out at restaurants down the street – and no meal was as good as any we had in Sanur. We went out for coffee and read (a lot).

Since our trip began, we’ve done a lot of reading. Ian has been sticking to non-fiction: 1000 Years of Annoying the French, the God Delusion, Malcolm Gladwell’s  What the Dog Saw (a book of essays) and now Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bryson is a travel writer). He's liked them all. I’m a bit embarrassed to say that I’ve been reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels and have just finished my 9^th one. Harris (author) is a dreadful writer – and in every single book she feels compelled to give us background on everything and everyone as if we didn’t read the previous books. I end up skipping entire paragraphs because of that. I recommend sticking with the series True Blood and avoiding the books. I also read One Day, there’s a movie out with Ann Hathaway, same title – and it was okay.

When we’re not reading or being tourists, we play cards, blog, surf on the internet, or watch TV. This is a treat for us since we don’t have cable at home. We’ve seen some pretty bad movies (the other night, we watched this old movie about a giant octopus that eats people) and we have learned a lot from the Animal Planet.

Our backpacks are holding up really well – although Ian feels he could have managed fine with a smaller one than his 55 litre bag. I love my Deuter because it has a netting on the back that keeps the heavy part away from my back which keeps me dry and not too hot. Ian's sits right against his back and  it's hot. His is also a light grey which is getting dirty while mine is a darker blue and still looking clean.

Some items we brought we wished we hadn’t, while others have proved invaluable.  Much of the literature I read in preparation for the trip recommended bringing one pair of shoes. Ian bought Keens and that’s all he brought, but he ended up getting a pair of light flipflops which are handy for the pool and in the room.  He loves his Keens though. I brought lightweight hikers, sandals and flipflops and am very glad that I brought all three. When my hikers get wet or dirty, I can wear my sandals – the flipflops are for the pool and inside (many times the floors are not the cleanest and feet will end up black if you don’t have footwear on). When Ian’s shoes get wet or dirty, he has to endure it. I recommend bringing at least two pairs of shoes.

It was also recommended to bring post-its, but we haven’t used them once. I do wish we had packed a universal sink plug because many times we’ve been caught without a plug and then it’s impossible to wash clothes. Once I used a clean plastic garbage bin, another time we asked the homeowner for a plastic basin, and a third time, Ian stuck a bottle upside down in the hole and unscrewed it, leaving the cap in to prevent water from draining out. Then you just put the bottle back in and screw the lid on and remove. It worked like a charm. Other times, we had to wait till our next location.

I also wish I had brought a bathing suit that was ultra conservative for Java and Sumatra because of the Muslin population there – even though mine is a one-piece and not that revealing, I still felt awkward. Often times, I was the only woman swimming and when there were women swimming – they were fully clothed, I kid you not.  A good bug spray is essential but we’ve been lugging around mosquito coils and never once used them. I think every place we stayed in except one, had soap – and most places have shampoo so a small bottle is fine. I’m glad I brought moisturizer especially for those times I got sunburned (stuck it in the fridge and put on when cold – helped a lot!).

I’m glad I brought a light weight hat – but Ian got a Tilly hat and he finds it too hot. I do wish I hadn’t brought white socks and brought dark ones instead – that was dumb. They get dirty fast, especially when you enter a temple in socks – they get filthy. We brought a deck of cards and have played a lot (but will have to put them in a baggie soon because the case is ripped). Speaking of which, we brought baggies – both large and small and have used them a lot – they’re so handy. Other handy items: umbrella, lightweight jacket, an inflatable airline pillow, eye mask, bandaids, tylenol, e-reader, netbook, small notebook with pen, small flashlight (each), lip balm, quick drying towel and washcloth, plastic bags, hydrocortisone ointment, and sunblock.

We both feel we’ve brought too many clothes. I could have easily lived with 3 pair of pants (really, I could have lived with 2) and 1 pair of shorts rather than 4 pair of pants. I did buy a Columbia black dress and that’s been handy – I can wear it over my bathing suit or for dressier occasions. I also brought a longsleeved pullover but have only worn that once - the jacket is enough. However, I ended up losing my jacket on route to Sanur and now have to shop for another one. I wasn't too happy about that...

We leave Indonesia for Thailand now and are ready to move on to a new country. I look forward to some yummy Thai food!

Sanur, Bali

Sanur is on the east coast but in the southern end of Bali, not far from the famous resort area Kuta (on the west coast). It is also close to Nusa Penida – a large island to the east where diving is decent. 

I booked accommodation through airbnb a site where homeowners can place their condos, homes, etc. on the site. For under 60 dollars, we had a room in a house with an ensuite bathroom, a/c, housekeeping, breakfast, 2 bikes to use, and a private entrance a few minutes from the main road of Sanur. On arrival, the housekeeper greeted us, showed us our room, and gave us a welcoming drink served on our very own porch.  We unpacked and headed off for lunch and off we went.

The main street has a sidewalk so that’s a plus and we quickly found an Italian restaurant to have lunch. There was an open air section and an air conditioned section so I went for that since it was hot! It was the first time in Indonesia that we actually ate in a closed restaurant (we were the only ones in there).

Our lunch was amazing. The best pasta we have had since arriving in Southeast Asia. It was yummy – ravioli-like pasta stuffed with ground chicken in a Napoli and cream sauce. The prices were a little high but still lower than what we’d pay in Canada. I asked the server how to get to the beach and she pointed to a road beside the restaurant so we followed it. It wasn’t exactly a path, it was a road to a villa but we found our way through and ended up on the beach.

Clearly tide was out, but you could see lovely yellow sand covering a large beach area that stretched for several kilometres. In the distance you could see where the water was breaking on a reef and a large boat sitting sideways on the reef abandoned. Out at the reef, you could just make out Balinese holding a ceremony.

There was a cement path meandering along the beach so we followed it. We passed several bungalows and resorts, and finally came upon Surya Dive Centre. We spoke to Gudai (pronounced G’day – as in G’day mate!) and booked two dives to Nusa Penida to place in a couple days. I wanted to make sure I was completely over my cold. The package included pickup at our house, all equipment, the 45 minute boat trip to the dive site (on a speed boat), the 2 dives, and lunch (we wouldn’t return to Sanur between the dives) for $127 each.

We walked back home and Ian took off on one of the bikes and I did some emailing and posted our Ubud blog (loading up photos onto this site takes forever, let me tell you!). Ian returned having found a Japanese restaurant for dinner and off we went on our bikes. I was a little shaky at first; it’s been awhile since I’ve rode a bike but it all came back. The bikes certainly cut down our travel time!

Dinner was fantastic and inexpensive. We returned to our abode for some cards and bed.

Day 2

We had a decent meal of fruit and mie goring (Indonesian dish of noodles and veggies) made by Bea’s housekeeper Nyoman. Our host, Bea, came out and met us and we chatted for awhile. She’s German and owns a spa.

We got a late start, but slathered on the sun screen (50) and headed off on our bikes to the beach. No one locks their bikes here; they are safe no matter where you leave them. We headed to the beach area in front of the Hyatt and got in the water fast as the sand was very hot.

We spent a lazy morning swimming and relaxing and when the tide started going out, we grabbed some lunch at a beach restaurant. It was pretty nasty – fish and chips. I’m not sure what kind of fish it was but it was dark, greasy, and a bit tough. Needless to say, I didn’t eat very much – yuck!

We made our way back to the house, got cleaned up and headed out to do a bit of exploring.  Going north this time, we found another road down to the beach and again followed the cement path but going in a different direction. This time we came onto a beach that the locals use. We stopped for coffee and dinner and headed home.

Day 3 – Diving!

We were picked up right on time and headed off to Surya to meet Rudita (Rudy) our Divemaster. He sized us up quickly and grabbed our gear and fins. Surya’s BC jackets were only 3 months old so it was nice using new equipment. We got full suits, which I was glad about because sea lice hurts when it bites your exposed arms and legs – I’m not joking. My dives at Gili Air left me a rash on both arms that might have been from the sea lice – not sure.

Anyways, we signed the waivers and off we went, just the two of us with our crew of three. It was nice being in a speed boat where we could sit relatively comfortably and not get splashed in the face the whole ride like we did on Gili Air. A little ways out, the driver stopped the boat and two crew members gave offerings to the water; which was repeated closer to our dive site. I found this reassuring.

We got on our gear at the dive site. The drop off the boat was pretty high – it was a rollback entry and I could feel my heart pounding as I got ready to go over. The drop went smoothly but I felt some panic breathing through my mouth. I swam over to Rudy and Ian and Rudy gave the signal to descend but as soon as I tried, I panicked. There is something very unnerving about breathing underwater when everything in your being tells you’re not supposed to be doing that. Not to mention, I wasn’t used to the equipment so instead of pushing the vent button, I ended up inflating my jacket making it impossible to descend.

Rudy was great. He quickly came over to me and calmed me down. I think it was just too fast to be honest. I needed time to adjust. Rudy told me to look down, so I stuck my mask in the water and practised breathing through my mouth – once my brain sorted itself out, I was good to go and under we went. Like usual, once I got down there, I was a happy camper and had no problems.

The current was strong but it was drift dive so we just had to let it carry us. We didn’t see as much as the Gili Air dives – but diving is diving so who can complain? The coral was brilliant, very colourful and we did see Trigger fish (coral destroyers) that were amazing – very large, colourful fish with interesting lips. I saw some great clownfish (Nemo) that were red and black.

We were down to 23 metres, average depth 20, in water that was 27 degrees. There were several small jellyfish floating by and I kept expecting to get a sting on my hands but nothing happened (what a relief!). Unfortunately, Ian went through his air super fast and before we knew it, he was at 50 bars, so we had to go up. It was the shortest dive yet – 35 minutes. Rudy decided to change Ian’s regulator which helped because our second dive was much longer.

The boat took us to our next site where we rested up. Ian ate his lunch – a club sandwich but I took a pass. I wasn’t hungry.  Several more boats arrived, all with many divers on them. I was glad it was just Ian and I and Rudy on our dive – I hate trying to see things underwater when there are a of other divers around.

After an appropriate amount of time, over we went and everything went very smoothly. My descent was a little slow because one ear took a bit to equalize (probably from my cold) but overall, things went well. There wasn’t a current so we could travel at our own pace. Rudy was great, very relaxed and easy going, no rush at all. One group of divers swam past us going very quickly and later, Ian and I wondered if they even saw anything. I was hanging upside down peering under coral and getting very close to some neat looking fish – including a giant fish with nasty looking teeth. It was in a small opening with only its head sticking out. Rudy said it was a puffer fish but I think it was more like a grouper.

We saw several more trigger fish, star coral, clown, surgeon, box, emperor angelfish, squirrel, and lionfish. We also saw a sea cucumber. We were down to 24.7 metres with an average depth of 18 for the record time of 50 minutes. Big improvement from the last dive!

The boat turned towards Bali and one of the crew members told us about the earthquake that had just occurred in Bali. Their English wasn’t very good so we couldn’t get a lot of information and it wasn’t until later when Ian was reading the news online that we discovered it had occurred in Kuta. Buildings shook and some smaller ones collapsed injuring some people. In the afternoon, when Ian and I were in our room, we felt the aftershock for about 5 seconds as the bed and our objects on the desk shook.

Our last few days of Sanur

We lazed about the beach – I got a slight burn even with 50 sunblock but that’s nothing new for me. I had to start wearing my hat on the beach because my scalp is a bit tender. The sun is very hot – even with a base tan, you can still burn. We go through a heck of a lot of sunblock and water but a big bottle only costs about 60 cents so that’s not too bad.  You have to pay for water at restaurants too because they use bottled water, but ice cubes are fine (bottled water is used).

We’ve enjoyed Sanur -  a nice quiet easy place.

Candidasa, Bali

Ian arranged for a shuttle bus to take us to Candidasa where we hoped to do some diving. The small van picked us up at our hotel and already had other passengers in it so as usual, Ian and I occupied the very back. Somehow, we always end up back there.  This wouldn’t have bothered me except the a/c wasn’t working and it was super hot.

We stopped in Padang Bai to drop off our passengers and I thought that meant Ian and I could move up, but alas, we had to change buses. This time, I sat scrunched with two other girls in the middle seat and Ian had the front seat in yet another van with a/c that didn’t work. Ugh. One nice thing though was the driver dropped us off right at our hotel: Bali Palms Resort. This saved us from walking up and down the street with our bags looking for the place. Or worse, trying to bargain with a taxi driver over a fare and always wondering if we are getting ripped off.

The name Bali Palms Resort makes the place sound fancier than it actually is but it’s just an average place. The rooms are really clean but small, the a/c works and there’s a TV and balcony with a pretty great view of the water and pool. It’s dry and there aren’t any bugs! This is the view from our balcony – can’t get much closer to the water!

Candidasa is a seaside town located on the east coast of Bali. It started out as a fishing village but in the 70s, tourism flourished because of diving and snorkelling opportunities. Ironically, the town received a large investment for tourism and construction and the reef was mined for lime for construction materials to build resorts, bungalows, and restaurants (can you believe it?!). This removed the coastal barrier that had protected the beach and as a result, it washed away.  Locals built cement barriers in an attempt to preserve the beach, but nothing is left but a bit of black rocky sand. My photos are when the tide was in, so at this point, there wasn't even a beach.

The town itself is one street lined with open air restaurants and bungalows. Other than diving, neither Ian nor I could figure out why anyone would want to be there. 

I couldn’t dive because of my cold so Ian went on search of some dive companies alone but struck out. Turns out, there was a big ceremony going on (I think for the full moon?) and there wasn’t any diving. Our little trip to Candidasa was a bit of a bust. But it was super weather, really hot, so we got in some swimming and soaked up the sun. After our damp stay in Ubud, this was most welcome and it helped me get over my cold.

After our horrid shuttle bus ride to Candidasa, we decided to arrange for a driver to take us to Sanur. Seems like we’re being spoiled, I know, but the price was right – about 28 dollars for an hour’s drive from our hotel straight to our accommodation; in a clean, air conditioned, empty van. Nice.

Ubud, Bali

The horse cart took us to the southern shore of Gili Air where we were going to load into the fast boat. Not making any assumptions this time, I wore sandals fully expecting to load off the shore – and I wasn’t disappointed. A fast boat, with several tourists sitting on the roof, pulled up to shore and started off loading luggage and people. The locals brought up a small wooden platform for people to step onto from the front of the boat (where they first had to crawl over a railing).

We got on the boat and seated inside – three seats on each side. The boat sped across the water, bouncing and slamming as it went. Water started pouring into my closed window so I was glad that we had an empty seat beside us. Passengers who were sitting on top made their way inside, soaking wet; and one poor woman to the left of us vomited into a bag. She already had 4 sitting at her feet. We exchanged passengers at Gili Trawangan and started on our bouncy FAST way to Bali. I pulled out my kobo and Ian fell asleep.

I think the journey across the water took about 2 hours and the shuttle bus about 40 minutes and we arrived in Ubud.

Ubud is in the lower south area of Bali and is touted as a cultural and spiritual centre of Bali; but after our previous experiences with cities, my expectations were low. I am happy to say that they were very wrong. First of all our accommodation was amazing. Since we were coming from a dusty dirty island and salt water showers, I had decided to splurge. I got us a deal (under a 100 dollars a night) on a room in The Mansion Hotel Resort and Spa on the outskirts of Ubud. The entrance way into the main building was impressive.

We were offered cold ginger drinks on arrival and a short tour. The property is huge with several swimming pools, ponds, galleries, and restaurants. Our room, as you can see, is pretty nice.

It has a soft bed, full mosquito netting, TV, chairs, WIFI, sunken tub, etc. and breakfast is included. Mind you, nothing is perfect. The roof is thatched and there are open areas so this means we get bugs and geckos in our room so it’s a good thing we have the netting. The first few days at the resort, we were in heaven, but then it rained. Bugs invaded our room and there were ants everywhere. We had to ask for our room to be sprayed. The damp was overwhelming and things stopped drying and I got sick with a terrible cold. The resort got very busy and they started serving a buffet breakfast which was cold and boring.  The room next door was booked and turns out, you can hear every word through the thin walls. Our neighbours kept us up till the wee hours as they laughed and talked very loudly.

Oh well, for the first few days, it was pretty splendid - and we used the tub a lot so I think we got our money's worth.

We took the free hotel shuttle into Ubud and spent the entire day poking about. The streets are lined with shops selling clothing, purses, paintings, sculptures, scarves, sarongs, and yoga wear.  Homes are inside walled compounds and there are many temples and offerings along the street.

There are also several spas and open air restaurants, some that border rice fields centred in town.  We stopped at one for some refreshments.

I was very excited to find a spa that actually does waxing and I got my eyebrows done.  This is a big deal for me because it’s the first time in Indonesia that I found someone who can wax eyebrows. Our next stop was Monkey Forest Sanctuary a popular tourist destination at the bottom of Monkey Road. Ian paid our entrance fee of 2 dollars each and bought some bananas for the Macaque monkeys that we were going to find inside.

Walking in the forest felt great: lovely tall trees, small rivers and waterfalls, and a nice easy cement path to follow.

Within in a minute of entering the forest, monkeys invaded our personal space and our bananas disappeared quickly. I refused to carry them because of previous experiences with the Macaques and didn’t want to be chased by aggressive monkeys; and aggressive monkeys they were! Ian ended up throwing most of the bananas off to the side because they were not interested in getting one at a time and grabbed at his leg, bag, and hissed if not given a banana fast enough.

There were monkeys everywhere. One man was sitting on the wall getting his photo taken and a baby monkey climbed into this lap. Another monkey climbed on a man’s shoulder to get some bananas while another monkey jumped onto the back of a small boy and scratched him. The little boy’s father hit the monkey (of course!) and the monkey hissed and swiped at the man. Sometimes they can be very cute but having seen their aggressive nature, we are wary.

At one point, I was sitting on the wall and a monkey climbed up and sat down beside me. This wasn’t so bad except that out of the corner of my eye, I saw a large monkey making its way towards us, that’s when I moved. Monkeys fight and they don’t care if you’re sitting there or not,, you don’t want to be caught in the middle.

Another time, we were leaning on a railing looking at the scenery and a monkey climbed over our hands to get to the other side. We stayed perfectly still,  not making any sudden movements.

The forest was beautiful with many statues along our route. At one point, a group of Balinese came through on the way to a ceremony at the temple. In Ubud, there are ceremonies every day.

After our adventure with the monkeys, we made our way back to the street and found a tour that looked interesting and we booked it for Wednesday. We had dinner and made our way back to ‘The Mansion.’

The following day, we decided to go for a walk and headed out onto our road. Walking was fairly easy as there were not a lot of cars or bikes. We passed the Blanco Renaissance Museum and decided to go in. The museum is a compound that features the art of Don Antonio Blanco. Blanco comes from Catalonia Spain but after travelling the world to further his studies, he landed on Bali in 1952 where he remained.

The Museum is set on 2 hectares on a hilltop and houses many of his art pieces. As we approached the gallery, a large hornbill hopped in front of us and it was clear that it had been clipped and couldn’t fly. We rounded the corner and there were several more birds that one of the employees offered to put on our arm. We both said no, but before we knew it, we were covered in birds. It was good fun.

We were not allowed to take any photos of the art work that covered the two floors of the gallery. On the top floor, we exited onto a balcony and climbed a spiral staircase to the top which held some fantastic views of rice fields. On our way out, we could hear some birds and found a row of cages with different varieties of birds. We wandered around a little and discovered one bird that could imitate my whistles.

After our visit to the museum, we continued our walk and ended up in Ubud where we took the shuttle back to our hotel planning on having a swim. On route, the weather turned chilly and it started to rain so we sat in one of the covered pavilions surfing for our next destination. While sitting there, a small cat climbed into Ian’s lap and snuggled in. It was so cute.

Tour

Our driver picked us up at 9am with our first stop being Goa Gajah or the Elephant Cave a short distance from Ubud. The temple site is in a steep valley so you climb down a bunch of stairs to get to the first area. Here, there is a temple pavilion for prayers, enormous bathing pools with fountains, and a small cave opening with a large carving around the mouth of the cave.

Built 700 years ago, the cave was rediscovered in the 1920s and fully excavated 30 years later. Inside the cave, were several niches, but most were empty. Behind the pavilion was a large forest with paths and small pools of water. Ian of course wanted to follow them so off we went. The path wound its way deeper into the forest until it branched off in two: one up and one going down. A man appeared after having followed the one going down and he was very out of breath. I asked him what was down there and he said it was a natural setting and the path was quite steep. That was enough for me – so I sat myself down and Ian followed it down.

The setting was indeed a natural one but Ian said that there some areas where men had carved out spaces into the rock and created small caves. After some time, Ian finally reappeared and I reminded him that we still had many more things to see so we skipping going uphill and retraced our steps back to the road and our driver.

On route our driver explained how the Balinese are very accepting people and that was how Hindu – Buddhist beliefs could exist together in harmony on the island. Hindu religion or Hindu Dharma is held by almost 95% of the population. Hindu Dharma is a blend of Hinduism, Buddhism and ancestor worship. Indian philosophy provides the framework whereas indigenous beliefs are at the core of the rituals.

Temples are simple walled open compounds where one can communicate with God and their ancestors. To show respect at temples, visitors are asked to wear sarongs and sashes and our driver, Wayan provided them for us (first born Balinese are named Wayan whether they are female or male). At temples Balinese women and men all wear sarongs and many of the men wear small cloth ‘hats’ around their head to help control bad thoughts.

Our next stop was Tempak Siring, a holy spring water temple set in a bit of valley with a presidential residence located on a hill overlooking the area. There were many women carrying large baskets of offerings on their heads. The compound housed many pools of water with fountains where men and women could clean or purify themselves.

At the very back of the complex, we came across an entrance to another temple higher in the hills but we were forbidden to enter.

One walled area held ‘holy water’ which looked like volcanic ash (very black) and bubbling water that was perhaps hot springs.

After this we stopped at ‘coffee plantation’ that turned out to be a family run information centre. We walked through a large garden where Wayan pointed out various plants: ginger, jackfruit, passionfruit, small and large pineapple, and various herbs. We also saw our first Luwak.

Luwak is the local name for an Indonesian civet cat. The civet eats the red cherry beans of the coffee plant, along with various insects and plants, but only digests the skin of the bean so that the bean passes through their digestive system mostly in tack. Locals gather these beans, sort, clean and dry them.

It is believed that the enzymes in the civet’s stomach adds flavour to the coffee. The coffee is very expensive. After our tour, we sampled many varieties of coffees and tea including red rice tea, ginger, lemongrass, hot chocolate, etc. We did not have any Luwak coffee. Ian bought us some ginger tea for my cold, and the tea is delicious: 80% ginger with palm sugar, tea, and cinnamon. We sat for a bit looking out on a ravine of various trees and coffee plants.

We then drove to a high point where we could see Mount Batur and Lake Batur. It reminded us of Lake Toba in Sumatra. Mount Batur is an active volcano located in the centre of Bali that last erupted in 1968. Scars from the lava flow were visible and our guide said that most people climbed the volcano at night due to the lack of shade.

We then visited Besakih on the slopes of Mount Agung, the largest and most important temple of the Hindu Dharma. The temple is a complex made of 22 temples sitting on parallel ridges probably dating back to the 14^th century. There are several steps and terraces leading to the main temple complex.

In ’63, Mount Agung erupted killing over 1500 people but the lava flow missed the temple complex by mere metres making this temple even more important to the Balinese.

Following this it was lunchtime and we were taken to a stunning location. The restaurant was located on the top of a hill overlooking rice paddies far below.

Unfortunately, the view was the only good thing about this place. The food was buffet with a very small selection of fried rice, fried noodles, fried chicken and French fries. To make things worse, the food was terrible and it was ice cold. I hardly ate a thing and each meal was over 8 dollars. In retrospect, we should have taken a photo and then asked to go somewhere else.

Our final stop was the old court justice of Kingdom Klungkung on the site of the Klungkung palace which was largely destroyed by the Dutch in the early 1900s. In the complex, there was a large floating pavilion surrounded by water and another pavilion where long ago, three priests would preside. In each of these, the ceilings are covered in paintings depicting various punishments that could be issued.

We were a bit overwhelmed by all the temples but overall the day was enjoyable and Wayan proved a lovely driver.

The rest of our stay in Ubud was spent lazing about, eating some memorable meals, and reading. One day, we visited the Museum Puri Lukisan, the oldest art museum in Bali. The first building we entered had several wood carvings many of which were characters from Balinese folk tales and mythology. The carvings were made from jackfruit, frangipani, teak, waru, cekek, and suar wood. Paintings were oil, tempra, and I believe there was a watercolour. There were also examples of Batik.

Our last day, we participated in a special event with the Writers’ Festival. The international writers’ festival was being held in Ubud the week we were there (coincidence) but many of the events were too expensive for us. However, we did get tickets for a lunch with author and anthropologist, Stephen Lansing. Over a three-course rice-based meal, we would listen to Mr. Lansing discuss the cultivation of rice and the traditional water temple systems in Bali and the event was held at the Dirty Duck, which is a pretty popular restaurant in Ubud.

The setting was indeed pretty spectacular, bordered by rice paddies. We sat with a couple from Australia, Judy and Michael and had a lovely chat with them over our lunch. The ‘talk’ actually proved a bit disappointing to Ian and I as the focus seemed to be more on the lunch rather than on Stephen Lansing. Still, we learned a few new things and it was a great way to spend the afternoon.

I was looking forward to leaving Ubud, just because I needed to get somewhere dry and warm to help me get over this cold!