Seeing more of the country side

Our last day in Bali dawned earlier than the other days. We were heading out onto a cycling trip and I wanted to wander the grounds a bit taking photos so we set the alarm nice and early.

The van was there to pick us up right on time and we spent the next hour making our way up to a breakfast spot overlooking a volcano. The drive was fascinating. It was nice to experience the local culture of Bali as we passed beautiful ladies walking to the temple with these incredible fruit towers on their heads, children playing, farmers working and shop owners setting up their displays. The traffic was less busy and the scenery was incredible!

Our breakfast spot was gorgeous. We had driven uphill most of the way so that we looked out over the valleys and rice terraces. I could have spent hours there but the day was only beginning!

After breakfast we headed down to where we each got our bikes. I was a bit nervous as I hadn't been on a bicycle for 4 or 5 years (yes - again I did this to myself) but figured I would get into the groove soon enough. Everyone helmeted up and off we went!

What an incredible ride - down hill most of the way on surprisingly good roads. We stopped at a family's house to see what a traditional Balinese house looks like and watched them weave bamboo mats. Then we rode out into rice fields on these narrow little roads that were no bigger than 3 feet across. (That part made me a little nervous - okay a lot nervous so I walked down the steep parts). As we were driving along - a man suddenly popped his head up in the ditch. The ditch is also their irrigation system for the fields and so they were full of water. As I rode passed I realized he was bathing naked and his underwear was lying on the side of the road - too funny!

We stopped to harvest some rice and then were off again. We off roaded through the trees and popped out onto the main roads. (Okay so most people rode but I might have stopped a couple times to walk - and I wasn't the only one so that made me feel better!) And then the inevitable happened. There were two girls in front of me and the rest were way ahead. They had said to stop and take photos wherever so when the girl slowed right down and stopped I just though she wanted a photo. Nope - they were actually turning with the group. I was sure I spotted Kim ahead and so kept riding forward. All of a sudden the guide pedals up and asks where I am going. Hmmmm - not too sure where I am going so we took a different route to meet up with everyone. As bad as I felt for missing the turn, I was glad to come across some sites you don't see every day - a motor bike laden with helium balloons for a celebration (the balloons were twice as wide and twice as high as the bike itself and so colorful and shiny - it looked really funny), kids playing soccer, grandpas hanging out on the stoops and grandmas picking up groceries. Trucks filled with chickens and dad's driving with their little babies on the bikes. Houses dressed for weddings and temples dressed for celebrations.

The rest of the group met up with us at this massive tree that was 500 years old. It was huge and sooo beautiful. We drove through more villages and passed more rice plantations before we landed at a cock fight. Kim and I couldn't watch the fight itself but it was an amazing experience being there and watching the men partake. A little ice cream cart parked off to the side under the shade. Winners and losers at the sport. Roosters being groomed and preened - being teased with each other.

Towards the end - there was an opportunity to do an uphill climb or continue on with the easier riding style - After seeing the steep off roading I didn't think I was up to a 10 minute uphill climb and then a 5 minute down to go another 20 minutes uphill. The guides kept warning everyone - it isn't the climb but the humidity and the sun that will get to you! So 3 of us stayed back while the rest climbed. I wished afterwards (once I knew it was mostly softer grades on paved roads) I would have maybe tried it but I was scared that I would be holding everyone back - Kim went and did an awesome job. So proud of her!! The downhill afforded me the luxury of a few photo ops though which I am glad I had.

All too soon we were at our lunch spot overlooking a rice field and then heading to the coffee plantation. We tried a wide variety of coffees and teas to end a fantastic excursion. Really glad we booked that one. Back at the hotel to shower and then off to the airport.

Farewell Bali - I am sure we will meet again as your beauty and soul drew me in. You are lovely!

Thursday - Day 2 of Bali

Haha - I totally had to go back and count my days so I knew where I left off - but Thursday it is (That's the Thursday before Easter).

Kim and I both hadn't been having the greatest of sleeps (in the fact that we woke up a couple times throughout the night and were up earlier than need be in the morning despite no alarm being set) and so since our massage wasn't until 9:00 we were quite confident that an alarm would not be needed. Well - after we both had the best sleep of our trip, I woke up, checked my clock to see it was 8:53 - the mad dash was on! We quickly scrambled around and found ourselves at the massage hut at 9:00 sharp. As we were running down the stairs - Kimmie jokingly commented - funny that we are running just to go lay down again - but we were.

After a delightful massage complete with body scrub, yogurt mask and flower bath we headed back to our rooms to change and head into town. First stop - a scooter rental place. Never having driven a scooter or motorcycle before was apparently not a comfort to the guy renting me the bike but never the less - I gave him my best smile, confidently assured him I could figure it out and screeched off.

Really - how hard could it be - I didn't even need to prove that I had a valid drivers license nor did we need to leave a credit card imprint - I was going to be fine. I learned the gas and the brakes - everything else was optional. Thankfully the first leg wasn't very far and we only had one corner that I scarily made - my legs flying out to balance me and my brakes grabbing. I wasn't too close to cars or people really - a good foot at least. Whew - Kim pulled over - good thing as we were starving (having missed breakfast for our massage of course) and so we parked the bikes for lunch. Our only stroke of genius for the day was remembering to take a pic of our bicycle license plates so we could find them in the world of scooters!

Lunch was okay - a sub par salad - but it filled the void! We then proceeded to do a little shopping, eat some delicious gelato and get some gas so we could make our way back to the hotel to get Kim's yoga stuff. I had decided to pass on yoga so that I could spend some time wandering around taking pics - the day before I had hardly taken any and I was so enamored with Ubud that I wanted to make sure I had some good pics.

As we were prepping to depart we realized two critical things: we didn't know how to get to our hotel and we didn't know where to return our bikes Ooops - the latter wasn't a big deal because we could figure that out later but the hotel was a bit more important. So we stopped at the info booth to buy a map.  Apparently maps are expensive in Ubud so we decided we just needed to ask the guide the directions.

Off we went - weaving our way through traffic. Kim had taught me an important lesson: others are not going to make sure they don't hit you before they go; rather they go and it is your responsibility not to hit them. Good to know - that means I can just go and others must make sure they do not hit me. Got it! Robert taught me the other important lesson - just look where you want to go! Hope this works for bikes the same it does for cars cuz my corners leading up to this point have been crazy!!!!

I blocked most of this ride out but it included filling up with petrol, making school girls laugh uncontrollably as i got up on the sidewalk with my bike, crazy corners that I didn't think I was going to make, getting honked at in an angry way and in a warning way, passing dead things that smelled awful, blown glass artwork, custom chess boards, gorgeous wood carving and Hello Kitty markets, scents of hot sour things and of incense, trucks with chickens and buses passing until finally we pulled over and were asked if we were lost - funny enough - yes we were!

We received directions to the monkey forest, found a place to turn around and were off again. Once at the Monkey Forest - we knew we could find our way to the hotel. By this point I noticed that people still used signal lights but I had nooo idea where mine were. Every now and then I would play with some of the buttons to see if I could figure it out. It must have been tricky though as Kim would turn hers on and then it would stay on for the next 10 minutes before it finally turned off!

After driving a bit we realized we must have missed our turn - again! No worries - I had finally figured out the signal light situation. But then we found ourselves in crazy traffic.  Kim was able to dash between vehicles in the oncoming lane but by the time I was ready to follow suit - traffic was moving again. I managed to screech into the gas station and decided that it was time to turn the bikes back in - we really didn't need to still head out to the hotel and do country roads. Thankfully Kim was ready to skip yoga as well and so we weighed our options - ask someone to guide us back to the bike rental spot or try it on our own.

Dually noted that we weren't sure the address on the contract was the real address (as Kim pointed out) so we decided to chance it. Kim was sure if we drove down the road a bit she would recognize something. Off we went, merging into our lane and heading back the way we came, After getting honked at over and over, we found ourselves in front of the restaurant we had dinner the first night. Yay!! Kimmie got directions back toward the monkey forest, we pulled a u-turn yet again and headed down this crazy road that was jammed with traffic. At some point I ended up taking the lead for the first time our journey - by now I had found my groove a bit with the bike - okay - let's just say I sucked less than I first did and we knew if we followed the road we would get to the bike place. We also remembered it being around a corner!  One corner, then two, then three and after a couple more, I finally spotted the place. I cruised to a stop across the road and noticed the guy who rented the bikes standing in the driveway waving frantically at us.

How he happened to be out there watching just when we came around the corner, I am not too sure. Was he standing there watching the entire time nervous that we were not going to survive it or??? Regardless he was there, We got turned into the driveway and unloaded our wares from under the seats! Laughing and giggling we were quite proud of ourselves for surviving.

Yes mom and dad - it was as bad as you are probably imagining it - driving on the opposite side of the street on these roads that would be considered a small two lane road back home that has multiple bikes and huge trucks and cars driving. Potted with holes at the most inopportune times. Dotted and solid lines are not a concept they understand. Nor is sticking in any semblance of order. Helmets and seat belts are optional. As it was hot, we were wearing flip flops and tank tops. But we did it!!!!

After that hair raising experience - we walked up the road and found a lovely restaurant overlooking a beautiful rice field. We relaxed there for a couple hours and grabbed a snack before doing a touch more shopping and heading over to the Balinese dancing at the palace.

What a perfect way to end the day - the dancing was beautiful and the head dresses and costumes so extravagant. It was a funny story about love between a prince and princess. The live music was so relaxing and it was as much fun to watch a couple local girls that couldn't have been more than 6 mimicking the dance as it was to watch the dancers!

Bed felt delightful that night - as we fell asleep listening to the sounds of the jungle! Incredible experience!!

Bali- WOW!

It's our first morning in Bali and it feels a bit like camping at home! You can hear the birds singing, the crickets chirping, frogs croaking and leaves rustling. The rooms at the resort are stand alone huts so you don't hear another soul unless they are walking by. It's incredibly serene. And the scents are incredible. Damp ground, fragrant flowers and incense.  Bali is the most perfumed place I have ever travelled to.  It is incredible. I wish there was a way to bottle it up so you could experience it too.  After a delightful breakfast complete with pineapple jam (don't know why I was so amazed as of course we could make pineapple jam back home just the same) we headed into Ubud. What an incredibly beautiful walk.... I could have strolled for hours along the houses and shops. Passed the monkeys and altars. Smelling the incense and listening to the sounds of the jungle.  When we got into town shopping and finally ice cream were in order before heading back to the hotel for our massages. Since Kim was up first I cooled off in the pool. Even with a little rain it was incredible. And it had to be one of the best massages of my life - amazing!!! Kim picked out a delicious dining spot tonight! We had Balinese tapas and yummy entres. Too full for any Indonesian dessert though!!! The food was so delicious and we had a great spot for people watching. So many different walks of life all strolling through the streets.  All day I was nearly beside myself with how much I loved the surroundings. I just couldnt drink enough of it in. So now it is off to bed. Another full day tomorrow starting with another massage. This is the life!

Bali has welcomed us

We landed. Made it to our hotel. And are just checking in with everyone before bed. It's beautiful and I will tell you all about it in the morning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our day in Singapore was lovely - when we woke Kim had a plan in place and execute we did.

 It started with a lovely walk along East Coast Park. Kim is only a 10 minute walk from the ocean and East Coast Park is along the ocean - gorgeous trails, a wake boarding park (just like a skate board park - it was really cool), lots of restaurants and the lapping waves along the beach. Singapore really doesn't have any swimming beaches and the best I can figure out why is do to the pollution from the harbor. It is massive - and there are sooo many ships queued up. You can't see the horizon of the sea for all the ships that are docked. Cruise ships, tub boats, fishing ships, cargo - oil and grains, spices and silks - I have never seen so many ships - flying over it looks like a little city (think Regina or Halifax size) for all the ships on the water.

After our fat buster stroll, we came home and jumped in the pool for a quick swim.You see I kind of broke the shower the night before when I was adjusting the shower head (oh dear) that ended up with a hose and a stream of warm water - felt like rinsing off on the farm with the garden hose all over again - so the pool was the best we could do! Kim's bathroom is an Asian style bath as well that has a stand up shower in a corner but just a little half wall divider. No curtain or door. Soo of course when the pressure comes back (after the washing machine cuts out) the small stream becomes a huge fountain that sprays everywhere - lol. By this point I was already mid shampoo and so had to finish off. Mercies!! 

Next up: Errands. Our first stop was the nail place for a polish change on the old toes while watching a Chinese soap opera - too funny! Next Starbucks for a coffee and light lunch. We then strolled down to the hardware store to buy Kim a new coupling for the shower and the grocery store to pick up some snacks. Dried sea weed, chick pea and green pea with rice crackers and dried mango were all in the cart! It was all very tasty!!!

Back home to pack up and head to the airport - was sooo incredibly excited for Bali!

On my way

Well after 6 months of incredibly stressful work, seeing more of my corner on the couch than I have of bed, the beautiful sunny days or of my fabulous husband, I am finally about to log some hours in the air and go visit my beautiful and funny friend Kim!

In just 19 short sleeps I will be on my way! Doesn't the temperature look fantastic?

So here is the agenda:

• Arrive in Singapore and spend a couple days getting aclimatized and recovering from the jetlag.
• Fly to Koh Samui, Thailand to attend a wedding, check out the beaches and eat some delicious Thai good.
• Tootle around Singapore a little more.
• Fly to Ubud, Bali to enjoy delightful massages, check out the monkeys in the sacred monkey forest, and do a little shopping.
• Enjoy all that Singapore has to offer including Arab street, the broadway show Wicked, poolside reading and of course a little shopping

I cannot wait to catch up with Kim again. I am so excited to visit a new part of the world I have never been to. I am dreaming about the photos that I will get to take. I will use every minute of relaxation to recharge my batteries.

Stay tuned to hear the adventures as they unravel. I am sure they will be entertaining. Especially with Kim in on the stories!