Bali is amazing! Very cheap and yet its niiiiice. Most other cheap places is Asia are a lot crustier and more boot-leg. Don't get me wrong, this place is still ridden with oddities and weird little 3rd world touches, like, for example, the light in the bathroom turns on, but the bathroom stays dark anyways! And the door to my room stays locked with me inside, and I have to unlock it from the inside with a key (total fire hazard death trap!) and the sidewalks are war torn ankle twisting, toe stubbing nightmares.... but you can get a $5 massage and eat a meal fit for a queen for less than $8 US.
The Kuta/ Legian area of Bali is a mess of shops selling every kind of souvenir imaginable. Clothes, carved masks, crazy helmets with Viking horns, and bumper stickers with horrid sayings, like: “eat the peanuts out of my shit”. A famous thing sold all over the place is wooden penis carvings. Some are ashtrays, some are bottle openers! Even the beach has people selling stuff like laser lights and toys for kids. You have to pay for everything here. To use the toilet, to park a moped, to go look at a temple, even to check out a viewpoint! The beach is over rated, but if you’re a surfer then the waves are great. There’s breaks of different sizes for miles in both directions. So every board gets their own slice of the action! Overall, the Legion area is very touristy, and not very fun, but it’s a good place to relax and enjoy getting spoiled.
Driving mopeds all around Bali:
One of my top 5 best experiences from my 5 months in Asia so far has been riding ALL over Bali on a moped. I’ve ridden a moped for 8+ years now, but after Bali, I feel like I’ve earned the right to call myself a moped driver! The roads are crazy (not as crazy as Saigon or Colombo, which are the top crazy spots) and there’s no real driving laws. You just go for it. People drive fast, and there’s always someone who overtakes you from the right. Sometimes the left. And if you take your eyes off the road for a second, there could be a moped or truck flying straight at you while trying to overtake each other. Not only that, but one evening, it started pouring rain (actually, every day I was in Indonesia, it rained on me, even though rainy season is “over”).
We were on our way to Ubud, and while we stopped to enjoy the spectacular views of the rice paddies and have a cup of Balinese coffee, the sky began to pour. Not rain, but dump buckets. Within the ½ hour while we waited for the rain to subside, the roads flooded! And it got dark early. So not only is it dark, but its pouring rain and there’s 2 feet of water gushing down the streets! Rivers began to flow in the streets with literally 3 feet of water in certain places. It was Armageddon. There was purple lightning slashing through the sky and chest thumping claps of thunder versus the 5 of us on our mopeds! We made it safely through the storm and arrived in Ubud cold and wet, but safe. That was probably the hardest 20 minute drive of my life. And when we got to Ubud, we still needed to find a place to stay. So Josh and Wayne went in search of affordable lodging, which is not easy in Ubud, and Rah, me and Cliff hung out under a carport and realized how cold and hungry we were. It was so wretched, our only response was to laugh about it. And dance around in the dark to try to keep warm. And sing retarded songs to boost morale. We actually scared 1 couple from crossing our path, because they turned around and went back up the hill again when they heard us laughing and lurking in the carport shadows. I still had my helmet on the whole time…
Aside from the dangerous roads and crap weather, renting the mopeds allowed us to see a different side of Bali. One that isn’t for viewing if you just stay in Kuta or Legian or even Ubud. The countryside is amazing, and full of culture, and religious ceremonies and everyday rural living. The people are friendly, beautiful souls who smiled as we drove past. The sights and smells were enhanced as we drove on mopeds, with the wind in our faces, and the power to stop and check things out gave us a sense of freedom unknown to tour buses of people. The smell of incense pervades the Balinese air, the warm sunshine enhancing the colors and the smells of village life. Kids play on the side of the road, while stray dogs laze around or scratch themselves. Old people with baskets on their heads carry produce or laundry, keeping busy despite being long overdue for retirement. Roadside shops provide every service imaginable from haircuts to pig slaughtering- on the side of the road! We smelled pig manure going through certain towns and saw older people perfectly balancing heavy baskets of pig feed on their heads. We also saw a freshly slaughtered pig on its back on the side of the road with its tongue hanging out being butchered and sliced on the side of the road by 4 guys. The entrails were washed in gutter water and placed on the ground. We saw people working the fields, and harvesting baskets of cabbages, green onions, etc. Artisans expertly and prolifically carve wood to make a living, taking folk art to factory status.
At one point we found a monkey hangout with about 30 monkeys of all ages eating food on the side of the road in front of a beautiful lookout vista of fields below. The rice terraces and fields were postcard perfect. A topless older lady was walking down the country road from her afternoon shower. We passed roadside stands with perfectly stacked parcels of exotic fruits and smelled the sweet aroma as we passed. We turned our heads to check out ancient stone temples, and due to the full moon coinciding with our trip, we saw lunar festivals in the streets. Balinese Hindus dress in traditional clothes and parade offerings of fruit, flowers and incense to the temples, while playing traditional instruments that sound like bells and drums. We pulled over to ask directions and while we were talking to the father, his 2 little girls ran out to greet us. School kids walking down the street in their school uniforms shout “hello” and wave excitedly to us from the side of the road. These are some of the sights and sounds of our rural Bali experience.
We went to a rural school near Lovina beach and Rahim and Cliff taught about 15 kids how to play Frisbee. Rah had visited earlier in the morning and spoke with the principle, who said it would be fine to teach Frisbee to a class. The teachers received us with a smile, but the children roared with laughter and applause! They were so focused and intent on the instructions and learning how to play this new sport with a flying disc. It was something new to their usual game of soccer. The field out back was a dirt floor with chickens running around and a huge mud puddle, which the kids managed to avoid. The game went over well, with the kids taking turns catching and throwing and then playing monkey in the middle. I played photographer/ videographer, and enjoyed watching the kids run around with huge grins on their faces. After the session was over, Rah gave the school 2 frisbees and we took a group photo. I played interviewer and asked one little boy what his favorite subject was, and he said the most enthusiastic, “English!!!” I’ve ever heard. I asked a little girl what she wants to be when she grows up and she said, “a teacher!”. Such beautiful, happy smiling kids. It seems the less that kids have, the more they enjoy whatever they receive. We were literally the heros of their school day, if not the highlight of their week! Such a happy and heart warming hour of time to give.
So, a “pepperoni” pizza in Indonesia is a pizza with red, green and yellow peppers. I asked a local guy what is up with that, and his response is that it was copied from another menu and is a local interpretation, since pepperoni isn‘t a local meat, and it sounds like “pepper only“, so that’s what you get!
The last highlight of my trip to Bali was getting to go scuba diving for the first time ever! I really got into it, and was able to see stuff I never saw while snorkeling. I dove at “Snake Farm” which is off a beach named Sanur. I saw a seahorse, 2 sea snakes (1 was HUGE!!!!), a sting ray covered in blue polka dots, a sea horse, up close and personal, it swam right at me! And enormous angel fish with fat fins, like nothing I’ve ever seen before. And the biggest puffer fish ever. Hanging at the bottom on the sand, looking grumpy. I got a free certificate to go diving b/c I went to a party to celebrate the awards from an ultimate Frisbee tournament that my friends were in, and most of the players who won prizes either left or had to leave before they could use the certificates, so I got a free dive and a free kite surfing lesson from Rip Curl. So lucky!!!
Diving allowed me to go so much deeper than snorkeling, since I could just hang out and not have to go up for air. You just breathe normally, and look around. Its very relaxing b/c you just breathe oxygen and enjoy. Its peaceful and silent down there, except for the rhythmic sound of the tank releasing air. The fish are so calm, and graceful. The vest with the tank can be inflated or deflated so you feel weightless. I was a bit scared to go, but I figured if I got a free certificate then I should GO for it. No excuse not to anymore!
As for kite-surfing, it was really hard b/c there’s so much you need to know. Very technical. I didn’t get to actually get in the water, Since it’s a lesson, the 1st one, you have to learn how to set up the kite and safety stuff. Super boring and complicated. And it seems like a very hard sport. But oh well. I learned that I don’t really wanna do it.
