Back from Bali

This is a monkey on my shoulder in Ubud.

So, for whoever is still reading this (i.e. me and occasionally Nate and Melissa), I’m going to try and get these updates up in a timely manner.  My goal is to make a post for each day of the trip so I can display more of the photos on here.  I’ll backdate the posts to the calendar days on which the events actually occurred, then I’ll backdate this one maybe.  Anyway, don’t expect anything tonight.  I’ve got to go through 300+ photos tonight, sort them out and crop some of them and what-not, and maybe start putting those on facebook.

There will also be one or two posts that are password protected.  I have recently gone back and password protected a few other older posts.  I have considered being more ambitious with the blog, and if I do attempt anything bigger, I will need to keep a few things just between friends.  Email me and I’ll send people I know the password for any of the protected posts.  Love you all and hopefully I get this trip documented quicker than the last one.

EDIT:  Three months… wtf is wrong with me?

Bali Trip Day 9

My delicious friend.

I woke up relatively early on my final day, given my early bed time the previous evening.  I woke so early, in fact, that I did not miss the continental breakfast!  This is a feat for me.

Afterward, I went for a morning walk along the beach at Kuta.  Never in my life have I seen such a depressing sight.  The shore was littered with garbage and dead fish for as far as I walked.  Many of them looked similar to the beautiful fish that I saw in Gili T, which made it even sadder.

I then returned to my hotel, where I bumped into the Sailor.  Normally, I would not just walk up to a stranger and start talking to them randomly, but he had mentioned the previous day that he had been living and sailing in the South Pacific and Australia for years, and that he had not lived in the States for nearly 30 years.  My curiosity was beyond piqued.

Every part of a pig is delicious... sort of.

So I approached him and we got to talking.  This old Sailor is the coolest guy I have ever met.  He owns his own boat down in Australia, and when he is not working as a captain or chief engineer on other boats, he just sails around.  We talked especially about the Philippines for a while, as he has spent a lot of time sailing through the hundreds of islands that make up the country.  The man was just infinitely fascinating to me, in part because I think I would very much like to be in his shoes in 30 years.

After chatting with him for an hour or so, I went on a mission to achieve one last goal that I had thus far failed on the trip.  I had to eat Babi Guling (that just means roast suckling pig, but apparently it is a big deal on the island).  I had already checked out, so I lugged my big ass bag around Kuta asking strangers about Babi Guling until I finally found a place serving it.  My God, it was everything I hoped for and more.  Every part of the pig is magically turned into something delicious!  The meat, the skin, some sort of sausage, something that resembled pork rinds, and a soup that (I think) involved more of the pig… all of this and a pile of rice with some hot green salsa stuff on the side.  It was divine, and one of the few meals I had that was too big to finish.

Kuta Beach at sunset.

After finishing it off, I got an hour long foot massage for something like $5, and then snapped a few sunset pics at the slightly cleaner Kuta Beach.  I then returned to Poppy Lane to catch a ride to the airport, where I reconvened with the illustrious Trevor.  We checked in, re-visited the Duty Free Store, and then boarded for Seoul.

The End!  Oh, and then Monday was a snow day, so we still got a two day weekend after arriving back on Sunday morning.  Win.

Bali Trip Day 8

Tanah Lot Water Temple

I woke up on the first at around 9am, packed up, and split from the group for an early return to the main island.  I arrived at the Blue Water Express office only to find out that I had been scammed by a “sales rep” back on Lombok (the same guy that managed to get us to Gili Trawangan in the middle of the night after all the boats had stopped running… a true fucking saint).  After paying an extra 100,000 rupiah, I was “fortunate” enough to be bumped to the second fast boat of the day.  I ended up paying nearly $80 for a $50 boat ride.  AWESOME.

The boat ride was quick though.  Much nicer than the ferry ride, and my taxi to Kuta was included in the price.  I was back in Kuta and settled into the Hotel Bali Dwipa by about 3pm.

After a quick shower (and the first warm one in days), I went to the front counter and arranged transport to go see Tanah Lot at sunset.  Just as I was leaving, I had my first encounter with the Sailor, but more about that in the next post.

Tide is coming in and forcing everyone back to shore.

I rode on the back of a scooter to the water temple with my driver and pseudo-guide, Made (pronounced Ma-dee).  When we got to the temple, it was PACKED.  It looked like half of the Javanese population was at the temple that day.  It was quite difficult to get a good picture without the entire crowd in the shot.

None the less, it looked fantastic.  Tanah Lot is on a rock cropping up out of the ocean about 50 meters from the cliff along the coast.  When the tide is out, it is possible to walk across to the temple on land.  When the tide comes in, water floods the gap and separates the temple from the mainland.  The temple also happens to be on a west-facing coast, so it is perfect for sunsets.

Just before the legendary sunset.

After wandering about and taking pictures from every possible angle, Made and I went up to the cliff where I could get some good pictures of the sunset behind the temple.  Thankfully, at this point the tide was driving the crowd back up to the main island, so there were not so many bodies crowded into the photos.

After the sunset, we rode back to the hotel.  I laid down for a quick nap before going out for a Friday night on the town… and slept for 10 hours instead.  It was much needed, however, after the last few nights of poor sleep.