Chinese New Year in Indonesia

Let me begin by saying that Bali cannot be described through words or pictures as they will never do my adventure or this beautiful country justice. But, I shall try! I have had the privilege of being able to travel to many glorious places in my life but I don’t think that I have been to a place quite like Bali (the happiness and balance that people feel there was an amazing thing to be apart of). 

First Stop: Ubud, Bali

After a month of waiting, Emma (Russell, Grand Mannan), Patricia (Read, Halifax) and I were climbing into a cab and heading to the Hong Kong airport as fast as humanly possible on February 7^th. The Bell rang at 3:00 and I’m sure that we were gone by 3:15. We met the boys for a late dinner and a beer at the airport then went on to our own gates.  We flew out at 9pm and landed in Singapore at 1am where we spent the night on the airport floor/chairs/lounge chairs (when people gave them up). When looking back at all of the times that I have slept on the airport floors over the years, Singapore was not my best nor was it my worst night on the floor (although it may have been the chilliest). After grabbing some breakfast (perhaps the best bagel I have ever eaten and a coffee) we headed for the gate and before we knew it we were landing in Bali (around 3pm).

Arrival in Bali went rather smoothly. It went something like this:

1.     Buy visas. Ouch.

2.     Wait in a sweaty line to get our passports stamped.

3.     Food&Water!

4.     Find a cabby that was willing to give us a fair price.

Ubud was our first stop on our two week adventure, which was only a bit of a jaunt from the airport in Denpasar. Now, for those of you who know the movie Eat, Pray, Love with Julia Roberts, Ubud is the location in which they filmed the Love section of the film. Needless to say I was pretty excited. I am very happy to report that Ubud is just as beautiful, if not more so, than what I had been expecting. It was spectacular and exactly what you would think of when trying to picture Bali - I completely loved it!

We were pleasantly surprised to find that we were given the penthouse suite at Nani House, located on the main drag in Ubud (just up the street from the Monkey Forest)! It was a wonderful place to stay, I have zero complaints; it was a great location, the room was beautiful and comfortable, the people were great and the breakfast that was included was delicious.

Our first full day in Ubud was spectacular. We woke up early, joined up with Gina, Jasen, Krista and Josh and began our day biking adventure. We all piled into a van that took us about an hour north of Ubud to a stunning (and active) volcano where we had a delicious feast of banana pancakes and Balinese coffee. Not a bad start to the day. 

We then drove about 20 minutes to a coffee and tea plantation where we were taken on a tour and shown how they go about making coffee (what a process for such a small amount). Once the tour was complete we sat at a large wooden table overlooking a valley and got to taste test all of the coffees and teas that were made there. We even tried a cup of the most expensive coffee in the world (earlier in the tour we were introduced to the animals that eat the beans and poop out the stuff that is then processed into coffee).

From there we biked to a Purification Temple, what an experience! There were many people coming and going and it was so peaceful. Each fountain represented something different and people would bring an offering then swim to the fountain that they were in need of. We went to a fountain that represented good karma (it’s meant to wash away the bad karma from your life) and after a prayer we put three handfuls of water on our heads. Now I wait to see if it all works out - So neat! Haha

After the purification temple we continue our biking adventure south through the small towns back towards Ubud. What a wonderful bike ride! Not only did we bike through quaint towns where each house had their own temple (the Balinese believe that the souls of the relatives rest in their family temples) but we biked through the famous rice fields. What a stunning sight! So stunning that while biking along a rough and tiny section of mud through one of the fields, Patricia drove her bike face first into the ditch. 

Apparently she was too busy watching a couple of women who were working in the field and lost control. Of course, Patricia was just ahead of myself and as soon as I saw her going I was getting off my bike as quick as possible to help…probably should have stopped first because I then went flying sideways into the filthy water and was pinned by my bike. It might be a little strange but the first thought that went through my mind was “of course Kate, you just had to fall into a rice field” and the second was something along the lines of “oh my dear lord, get me out, there are leaches”. A completely irrational fear in general but in hindsight it was rather ridiculous! The tour guide laughed a little before getting the bike off of me and helping me out. Patricia and I were fine, pretty cut up but it could have been much worse! Naturally we all laughed about it, got back on our bikes and continued no worse for wear.

Our beautiful tour ended at a temple where we ate in little open huts over a pond full of fish. It was absolutely serene and lovely. We had been warned about eating the food in Bali but after living in China for almost a year clearly prepared us for anything Bali had to throw at us because we were fine (for the most part).

Day #2 was another one for the books! We spent the morning walking through the famous Monkey Forest, conveniently located just down from our hotel. I won’t lie, I was pretty nervous. While in Thailand I was warned to be aware, some might take a chunk of flesh off of me…not comforting. It cost us $2CAN to go through and it was quite a sight. A very natural and old temple, parts in ruins and covered in moss. It kind of reminded me of the monkey scene in The Jungle Book. Monkeys were Everywhere! It was bizarre to be so close to so many wild monkeys, they were so human-like.

After we had our fill of the monkeys we were a wash of sweat, the heat was incredible. So we picked up some water, snacks and headed to the pool next to our place. We lay by the pool for the better part of the afternoon and enjoyed lounging in such a lovely pool overlooking rice fields (what a life). Unfortunately it was this afternoon that sealed the fate of shade for poor Emma and Patricia. They were forced to stay out of the sun for a few days due to the burns they received from Mr. Sun.

We spent the evening at the Laughing Budda, a delicious restaurant, and called it an early night knowing full well that we had an early morning trip to Kuta.