March
Journal
03/31/09
TIRTA GANGGA - BALI
From Padang Bai, we head north to the far East coast of Bali at Amed, known for its stretch of small black-sand beaches and tiny fishing villages. The road is lined by coconut and banana trees and passes through an amazing scenery, with terraced sawah's as far as you can see, and magnificent views of vulcano Agung.
We take a break at the holy temple, Tirta Gangga (water of the Ganges), a water palace built by the rajah of Amlapura. The place is crowded with locals because of the holiday (for Galungan & Kuningan). Many families play in the large swimming pool. Steyn joins the kids and skips through a pond over pillars sticking out of the water.
AMED (JEMELUK) - BALI
In Amed we end up at a new hotel with a pool, 5 yards from the beach near the tiny fishing village of Jemeluk. Apart from a few restaurants and other hotels, there is really not a lot to do/see within walking distance. This 'forces' us to take a real vacation, doing nothing but hang out at the pool, walk along the beach in the morning (because the sand gets too hot later in the day) and have lunch at one of the places nearby.
This region feels hotter than any place on Bali we've been so far and after 2 nights we long for the cool nights in Ubud. One of our new driver friends comes to pick us up.
BACK IN UBUD
It's good to be back. We discover a brand new hotel with pool and rice-field views. Could this become our home for the next few months? They do rent out rooms for long term, the 'manager' tells us. And then he shows us a couple of other houses for rent in the same street. Many options...
HOUSE BECOMES A VILLA...
After seeing many houses for rent, a smart real estate agent also shows us a villa, perched on a hill with a pool, pond, 3 bedrooms ensuite, outdoor bathrooms with orchids growing on the walls and a large veranda looking over the sawahs. It's more than we were looking for, but we after days of deliberation and a few sleepless nights on my part, we decide to really treat ourselves and sign a contract for our 'dream villa'.
NYEPI - BALINESE NEW YEAR
On March 26th, it will be the Hindu new year in Bali. Between 6am and 6am the next day, you can not cook, you can not make loud noises,and you stay "inside" (this means staying off the roads and hang out on the family compound). This way the bad spirits will think that Bali is deserted and won't descend.
Even though this would be a special day to experience, we decide to try this in a few years and take our wild boys off the island for now, to the next island, Lombok (predominantly Muslim).
FERRY TO LOMBOK
After a night at Padang Bai (the boys now know their way around town), we take a 4-hour ferry trip to Lembar on Lombok. We had arranged for hotel pick-up, but they came so late that we missed the 9am ferry... Oh well. An hour and a half later we end up at the middle deck together with a whole bunch of other tourists (mainly surfers) and a few local families. The boys are facinated by the heavy loaded trucks that board the 'first floor' of the ferry.
Only after an hour of sweating on the deck and sore bottoms from the wooden bences, we discover that most locals are inside, on mattrasses or cushioned couches in semi-aircon rooms. We move to this section, where the boys play with all the other kids for the rest of the trip, to later disembark with the soles of their feet completely black from the dirt on the floor.
KUTA, LOMBOK
Kuta Lombok is about as different from Kuta Bali as can be. On Lombok it is a small fishing village along a wide strech of white-sand beach, surrounded by hills and Krabi-like rocks that rise out of the ocean. The road parallel to the beach does not have much traffic and you won't see any taxi's, but only motor bikes, bemo'S (small van-like busses that you board from the back), and horse drawn carts.
BEACHES NEARBY
We rent a couple of mopeds to tour around and are amazed by the stunning and nearly deserted beaches we find. Although, as soon as we park our mopeds, three or four other soon arrive and we are surrounded by boys who want to sell us sarongs, t-shirts, pineapples, bracelets or coconuts.
Without buying anything, we chat for a bit, share some snacks with them and they hang out with us until we go to the next beach, where this happens again. And again. Low season, they say...
COMING SOON: NEW INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ON LOMBOK
When I was here in 1995, I met anxious boys on the beach, who wanted to practice their English with me, because soon there would be many large hotels on Lombok's south coast and they wanted a job there.
Now, 14 years later, it looks pretty much the same. The story is also the same. Soon the beaches will be developed and many jobs should open up in the luxurious resorts in and around Kuta. The big difference with 1994, we find out soon, is that they're building an international airport a few kilometers north of Kuta. Funded by Arab investors who promise to bring 2 million Muslim tourists a year (of which half should come from Arab countries) to the island for so-called "religious tourism". What will it look like when I return in another 14 years...
3/20/2009
UBUD - BALI
Ubud, a town full of artists from Indonesia and all over the world. Paintings, sculptures, woodwork, teak furniture, jewelry, sarongs, lamps, and any other handicraft you can think of, it's made in/around Ubud and sold in the pasar (market) and the many boutiques along the main tourist streets.
Only a few blocks away, you find yourself in the rice fields. This is where we'd like to rent a house.
HOUSE FOR RENT
We meet with a Javanese woman, who has a house for rent. She leads the way on the back of a moped, driven by here maid. She motions us to park the car on the side of the road and we go by foot over narrow 'dikes' through the rice fields.
She shows us a cute Balinese style 2-story house, with 2 rooms, those are the 2 bedrooms (as is common in Bali). A simple bathroom and a small kitchen with a 2-wok-burner stove top and a porch, which would serve as our living space. The view is wonderful.
As we come out of the house, one of the neighbors (who lives about a 100 yards away), tells us she has a house for rent as well. This keeps happening and by the end of the day, we've visited about 8 different houses in the area.
The following days we see many more houses. Although an interesting way to see different parts of Ubud, we felt we needed a break and headed for the beaches at Padang Bai.
PADANG BAI - BALI
Padang Bai, a fishing village in East Bali. Also the harbor where ferries leave for Lombok and Nusa Penida. Recently they started a fast boat service to Gili Trawangan (tiny island off the coast of Lombok without cars/mopeds but with small horse drawn carts) and it became a stop for a small cruise boat.
When one of these cruise boats dock, there is a lot of commotion. A gamalan orchestra plays on the completely remodeled pier, a souvenir market is set up at the end, and another 50 or so sellers approach the tourists when they hurry from the pier to their air-conditioned car. It is a comical sight to see.
BEACHES
A big part of Padang Bai's beach is taken up by colorful fishing boats and mainly comes to live in the late afternoon when the local families bathe and play in the water and the teenagers play soccer. We head for a small white-sand beach to the south of town.
With Spek showing us the way (because he knows the way), we end up at a large construction site, way above the beach. We're all completely drenched with sweat and already sunburned, when one of the workers invites us to climb in his dump truck. Spek declines, but the boys and I happily accept and Steyn has the ride of his live! He is sitting in the front seat, no seat belt, driving over rouch terrain, bouncing about the cabin with a great big smile on his face.
After playing in the waves for a while we walk (the right way) back to Padang Bai. We stop for lunch at Bamboo Cafe where the boys play the rest of the afternoon with all the toys of the owner's son. Walking back to the hotel, Steyn said "Can you believe it? A restaurant with so many toys?!"
On a less happy note, this beach will become a private beach as soon as the Korean owners are done building their luxury hotel with 50 villas, each with their own pool.
BLUE LAGOON
The next day we spend the day at Blue Lagoon, a tiny beach with 2 warungs, each one has a terrace with sun chairs. This is where you sit, because most of the day there is no beach down below. The food there is great.
OBAMA
The people here adore him and are so proud he went to school in their capital. His name comes up almost as soon as we mention that we live in the US. In one of the internet cafe's a lampshade has his face painted on it and the slogan 'yes we can'. The local election campagnes have started now and I've seen them use that same frase in Indonesian. One day we had lunch at a place were they had a tiny black cat named Obama.
03/13/09
KUTA - BALI
We visited a few rentals north of the Kuta/Seminyak area. We fell in love with Pantai Seseh, recommended by a friend from San Francisco who now lives in Singapore and got married at this black-sand beach with brightly colored fishing boats and a bunch of smiling, curious children.
Back 'home' in Kuta, we hang out at the beach, now full of tourists mainly from Java, who pinch Quinten's cheeks, stroke Steyn's hair and giggle at us while taking our picture.
UBUD - BALI
On March 8th, we pack our things and head to Ubud. A 40 minute drive inland from Kuta later, we arrive at this artist's town surrounded by sawahs, the rice fields filled with bright green padi. THIS is what we had in mind...
03/07/09
LAST PREPARATIONS
Still not fully packed on Thursday evening and the house in a somewhat chaotic state our dear neighbors invited us over for dinner. A fun and relaxing way to spend our 'last' evening in San Francisco.
THE TRIP
Thanks to the inflight entertainment system of Singapore Airlines and to Steyn's recent interest in drawing, 'writing' and coloring, the 12 hour flight to Seoul went smoothly. In the transit hall a modern clean and fun kids room including 'miniature' restrooms, tired the boys out. The last 6 hours to Singapore, they were asleep.
SINGAPORE
Spek's Starwood Points provided us with a nice room, a great big colorful breakfast every morning in the VIP lounge, splashing fun in the pool and lots of 'running space' in the lobbies and hallways. The staff will surely remember the boys, although they're convinced that Steyn is a girl... (he does NOT want a hair cut!).
We vistited our friends, who took us out for a Singapore style dinner at the hawker stalls. The new kid's water park in the zoo was a big succes, also with Spek. Too many shops at Orchard road but good food in the food courts. The standard tourist boat ride at Clarke Quay was relaxing and fun.
BALI - KUTA
Arriving late at night made us end up at Kuta again. A very touristy place, with too many mopeds, taxi's and minivans crawling through the narrow streets.
Early mornings at the beach without anybody trying to sell you something, but joining families for their morning walk and watch the first surfers catching waves at dawn, is not so bad at all.
The boys are completely happy with our little 2-story cottage set in a GREEN tropical garden with swimming pool.
Pictures
Ubud - Hotel in the Rice Fields
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Amed (Jemeluk)
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Tirta Gangga - Water Palace
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Blue Lagoon - Padang Bai
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Ceremonies at Padang Bai
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Padang Bai
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Ubud - Monkey Forest
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Ubud - Sawahs
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Spicy Food, Lego, Zoo & Elephant Cave
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Kuta Beach in the Afternoon
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Kuta Beach in the Morning
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Singapore
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The Trip
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11/23/2009 9:56:29 PM