Mongol experiences: Bali & Beyond

Wow! Is it HOT & HUMID!!! Those words were often followed by "Let's get a beer to maintain our stamina!" This was our holiday vacation, which covered approximately 3 weeks. We chose Bali because a childhood friend of Pam's lives in India, and she has a friend who lives in Ubud, Bali and so it made sense to us to meet there for the holidays. Follow the logic???

Our trip started with searching for some clothing not designed for -20 to -40 degree weather since we left from Seoul without any summer clothes.  Kuta, a tourist town with a beach filled with a lot of foreigners looking to drink, surf and party all night long, was also a great place to find what we needed with seemingly thousands of locals wanting to meet our needs in their shops. With the clothing issue addressed, we headed to the beach for some relaxation. Got to the beach slowly ( I'm not as quick on crutches as I used to be) and then convinced the local entrepreneurs at the beach that we didn't need anything. Still having staples in my leg kept me out of the deep water, but Pam headed into the great surf to refine her body surfing. I was entertained by wannabe surfers learning the fundamentals to conquer the giant curls. We were a bit disappointed with the beach. The name Bali conjures up beautiful images of beaches for many people, but the reality is that in Kuta there is trash on the beach and in the water just like many other beaches that we've been to. Not all the beaches are sand. That surprised us. Some have good sized stones that make getting to the water a challenge.

We had a great hotel on the main drag with a beautiful roof top pool and outdoor dining, and it was surprisingly quiet. After two days of that, we met up with Pam's friend Tobi and her partner, Rahul, and happily left for the interior town of Ubud.

Ubud is known as an artist and cultural center. That it is. Batik clothing and artwork, beautiful wood carvings that included penis handled bottle openers, jewelry and reed goods. The transportation on the island looks like a battle scene from Lord of the Rings without the carnage. Cars and motorbikes battle for control of the road. The horn is probably the most important part of the car and the helmet for the motorbikers. There are the "I'm invincible" younger folks that I can only presume think their skulls are thicker than a helmet, or they believe their reaction times can easily handle any situation that presents itself.

We stayed at a gorgeous villa that belongs to Steve, a doctor friend of Tobi. He was a fantastic host with a staff that catered to all of our wants and needs. We started out our stay being Steve's only guests but, after two days, the numbers of friends and family grew to over twenty. Many of Steve's friends have worked with AIDS victims or relief agencies which led to many interesting discussions about the efficiency of NGO's and government agencies to address the needs of the people they are supposed to be serving.

To get to downtown Ubud from Steve's, we had to negotiate the Sacred Monkey Forest. The macaque monkeys rule here. They roam free and entertain and/or terrorize the more ?? developed relatives. On our first stroll through the forest, one tourist said that she had been bitten by one of the monkeys, which Steve said carried some disease that could kill the bitee.  That info was enough to stop us from feeding the monkeys or from having them jump onto us for picture sake.  We were warned not to carry anything in plastic bags because the monkeys had figured out that plastic bags often contained food. We witnessed the quasi paramilitary coordinated attacks by some of the monkeys to snatch plastic bags from their more advanced brethren and then rifle throughout the contents for food. If they came up empty-handed, they would leave the bag looking a bit displeased.

Pam and I got to experience scuba diving and loved it. We felt like we were extras in Finding Nemo 2 swimming beside iridescent, rainbow colored fish of all sizes and shapes.   We had a great instructor from Spain who guided us around the ocean bottom near a ship wreck. We were diving in about 8-9 meters of water with 20-30 meters of visibility. The fish were stunning, and a highlight was swimming with a huge school of Jack fish and then sitting on the bottom watching these 2 foot silver swimmers circle us with numbers in the 100's.

We visited a few temples that required us to put on sarongs, passed rice fields filled with plants at various stages of maturity, drove past active volcanos, and marveled at the jungle plants. It was a fantastic experience accentuated by the wonderful, good natured, friendly, helpful Balinese people. From here we headed off to Java when Tobi and Rahul returned to India.

Where did I leave Dave?