01 March 2009

A Cheesy Duo and More: Stories from Bali and Lombok.

Ubud, town so nice we stayed there twice. Did we really just write that? Actually, Ubud is a mecca for ex-pats and artists, both native and foreign. We stayed here for a couple days, or, who are we kidding... a week AGAIN, after Mary Ann left. We felt kind of guilty staying in such a touristy place for so long and not immersing ourselves in much of the local culture. For example, we went to a showing of the "Matrix" at our American friend's weekly movie night, indulged ourselves in massages (costing about 5 dollars for a full body with aromatherapy,) and spent a couple nights at a bar owned by a nice guy from San Rafael, California, which incidentally is the town next to Max's hometown. Regardless, Ubud is surrounded by beautiful, distinctively Balinese landscape and was a good, familiar base to plan the rest of our exploration around Bali.
Rice field walk. Much of Bali is covered by these terraced paddies and you can see rice in all stages of its growth throughout the year. Although tourism far outstrips agriculture in terms of Bali's economic output, it still provides jobs and food for the island.

A billboard on the main highway in Bali proclaims this park to be the "Best Elephant Safari in the World" according to Steve Irwin, so we decided to stop by on a motorbike ride one day. We didn't go in because it was $15, but we DID see elephants. See below.

This is the "safari."' One of the elephants farted in Kara's face as she tried to take a picture of his backside. Sorry elephant.

Balinese roundabouts are adorned with epic statues, many times depicting Hindu mythology. This was seen a major intersection on the outskirts of Denpassar, Bali's largest city.

Political signs. These signs are everywhere. Literally. On all islands of Indonesia, on all major roads, and on most non-major roads. They are so prevalent, we are thinking of devoting an entire blog entry to just them. There are over 40 political parties in Indonesia, and they are all heavily invested in signage for the upcoming April election. Parliamentary elections occur once every five years in Indonesia. Indonesian voters fall into two camps, as far as we can tell-- the first group of people are enthusiastic party members who tell us the name and the number of the party they will vote for with a thumbs up. The second group is the overwhelming majority of the people we speak with, who view all parties and politics as corrupt.

Max thinks Kara looks like a guerrilla fighter getting ready to take the hill. More rice terraces en route to Besakih, "The Mother Temple" of Bali.

To enter most of the 20,000+ temples in Bali (yes, no joke), you must be dressed in traditional Balinese clothing. This usually translates to a sarong tied over your clothes with a sash. The actual traditional costume is much more elaborate, and very beautiful. Women are not allowed entrance to the temple during their menstruation, as they are considered "spiritually unclean" during this time.

Besakih is considered the "mother temple" of Bali. Over 1,200 years old, it is the largest and oldest temple on the island. A steady stream of worshipers bring offerings every day of the year for various ceremonies. There were no special ceremonies the day we went, but we still saw thousands of people praying and hanging out.

Kara is in a bright pink sarong rented out to tourists who did not bring their own.

Max made Kara put this picture on the blog. It is very silly and there is no reason to have it on the blog, she says. Its one of Max's favorite pictures of Kara, ever, he says, "pretty much sums her up."

This picture needs no caption.

As we mentioned, Ubud is kind of a home away from home for hippie Americans escaping America. Here was a yoga class we attended that looked out onto the rice paddies.

At the "Flava Lounge," in Ubud owned by that Californian we mentioned earlier. Max and him played the name game about their high school classmates. We heard a lot of Bob Marley, Oasis, and Tori Amos sung at the open mic nights. In the foreground is a bottle of Bintang, the national beer of Indonesia. Also pictured is DJ, a trust-afarian hanging out in Ubud with his mom for an "indefinite" period of time.




Bali is full of crazy flora and fauna. Here are some examples of our every day run ins.











This is a giant fern. Size of a tree, really.

This little guy was in our room in Ubud a couple nights in a row. Stay at Donald Homestay when you go. Its less than $6 USD a night for two people and it includes breakfast. There are clucking chickens and roosters next door who make the most creative, bizarre noises we have ever heard come out of the chicken family. It was far superior to the average clucking noises to be heard around Ubud.

We decided to leave Bali for a week or so while our visa extension was being processed. While not being technically legal, we have been assured that the process works. We hope so, because we are still in Indonesia as we write. The worst that can happen is a hefty fine and a spot on Indonesia's blacklist for a couple years. We'll let you know how it goes. You should be able to tell by the next post. Lombok is the island directly east of Bali and we headed straight for it.

Kara on the four hour boat ride from Bali to Lombok. Lombok's tourism is growing but at a much slower pace than Bali. Lombok has really only been open to tourism for the last 20 years, with its most dramatic growth occurring in the last 5. Lombok is very culturally different than Bali, as it is 98% Muslim. The terrain is very similar to Bali in that it is a mountainous, volcanic island, however it has a very distinct look and feel. Most tourists come to Lombok to climb Mt. Rinjani (which was closed for rainy season,) to go the Gili Islands, and to check out the surf in the South.

We first went to Kuta Lombok, which is a small fishing town on the southern coast of Lombok. It has recently become popular with Australian and other international surfers, but for the most part, a very sleepy, underdeveloped place. We loved it here. The rolling hills and jagged coast line combined to give us some of the best views we have seen on this trip.

One day we got stuck in the rain on our motorbike. We usually tough it out but it was raining really hard and we were taken in by a family on the side of the road. Max got a little jittery off of 2 cups of EXTREMELY caffeinated and sugared coffee, "kopi Lombok." Kara was driving and has adverse reactions to caffeine, however, we didn't want to offend our hosts, so Max took an extra one for the team.

Later in the day, we got a flat. We stopped at this lady's "pres ban" or motorcycle repair shop. Nearly anyone with a wrench and basic mechanical knowledge sticks a "pres ban" in front of their house. We were surprised and pleased to see this woman was going to fix our motorbike as the overwhelming majority of the "pres ban" owners are men. Please note how this woman fixes our flat using an open flame and a homemade heat press. It worked and lasted!

The south Lombok countryside.

Though there are only a couple of restaurants in Kuta Lombok, one of them happens to be a superb and cheap vegetarian restaurant owned by an Australian woman. The place is called Ashtari. The view is even better than the food, which says a lot. Max sits outside of the restaurant after eating a foccacia sandwich with tofu and tempe. Yum.

Kara ate salad. If you know her at all, you can imagine how happy she was. Salad with lettuce, folks. Real lettuce.

One of the beaches along the coast.

This lady tried to sell us some dried...something. We think its squid.

These ladies tried to sell us sarongs every day that we were in Kuta Lombok.

We are usually steadfast in our refusal of beach vendors and hawkers of all varieties. We only buy stuff we really want, or that we really need. We decided to make an exception for one man who looked like he really needed the business. After he made the sale, he was able to go home to his wife and child with rice in his hands. We know that by buying this sarong we are not solving this particular man's daily hardship or the economic problems of South Lombok, nor are we bridging the gap between extreme poverty and the rich in this island nation. However sometimes the small picture is too overwhelming to rationalize over the bigger picture. And besides we dig the sarong.

Cows on the beach!
Slovaks on the beach! When swimming in the water, Kara thought she recognized someone speaking her grandmother's native tongue, but was too embarassed to speak in Slovak to them to confirm her suspicions. Max opened up the dialogue, but not in Slovak. They then asked Kara every Slovak phrase they could to test her Slovak knowledge and the father, pictured in the speedo to the right, pinched her cheeks in approval. The Indonesian guys also spoke Slovak as they are the coworkers of one of the sons. Crazy!


Physical graffiti.
Women driving motorbikes: This is a rare sight in Indonesia, or any of the countries we have been in so far. Many women drive, but not when there is a male rider present.
That said, we think this guy understands why we wanted to take a picture. Rock on, women drivers, rock on.

This is one "road" to the beach. The kids who took the entrance fee to get to the beach at the beginning of this road laughed as they said "hati hati," which means caution. We had no idea how how "hati hati" we needed to be.

That road led to this beach. We thought it was deserted.

But then, these guys came along. The youngest of a group of about 5 men was holding a string of live grasshopers, still struggling with the stubs of their legs.

Night falls on Kuta Lombok's rocky coastline. Night fishing is popular here. Hundreds of fishermen with bright kerosene lamps walk back and forth in the tide pools that stretch for about a kilometer or two towards the horizon. They look like dancing stars, swaying back and forth in the darkness. The pictures we have really don't capture it, so we will leave it up to your imagination.

Leaving Kuta Lombok for the Gili Islands (also part of Lombok island). This is around 6 am. We took a public bemo which is like a modified pick up truck with a roof and bench seating. About 5 minutes after we took this picture, the bemos continually filled and emptied with mobs of school children.

About 6 hours and two more bemos later, we arrived at the port town of Banlung, which shuttles people to and from the Gili Islands. This town is notorious for its rip off artists. One guy tried to get into a fight with Max after we tried to consider our options for what he considered to be too long. He was irate that we had figured out that he was trying to rip us off. About 5 minutes later, we found the official government ticket office and hopped on the local boat shuttle to Gili Trawangan. There are three islands that make up the Gili Islands. They all have very distinct reputations. Gili Trawangan="party island." We had originally planned to Gili Air (="chill island") first but the government shuttle had already left for the day. Gili Trawangan, or "Gili T" as many backpackers call it, it was.

Shall we say more. Actually, we should. There were signs outside of almost every restaurant on this island. When you would go to buy a bottle of water, cell phone minutes, or look for a place to stay, you would be asked, "would you like some marijuana or mushrooms with that?" We had heard that this island was notorious for its lax drug policies, but it was still surprising to see it so flagrantly advertised. Indonesia is a country whose visa stamps clearly state upon arrival, "Death Penalty for Drug Trafficking," and from what we hear, they mean it. Apparently the headman of the Gili Islands (there are no police on the islands, only a tribal headman,) has some sort of deal worked out with the federal government, because everyone and their mother knows what goes on here. The guys who ran the guesthouse where we were staying explained that the headman was himself involved in the drug trade there. No surprise. We were also told there were sometimes raids in which Indonesians caught with drugs were punished with jail time, while a blind eye was turned to foreigners.

Here is us, not doing drugs. There are lots of other things to do on Gili T, including watching a movie on the beach in your own private hut. This was great because it rained every day. Torrential downpour for about 3 days. We finished the whole 5th season of "The Wire" (a pirated version that we had bought back in Cambodia) as the rain fell on the beach in front of us.

Turtle sanctuary that was not much of a sanctuary. A sign next to this tank claims that the turtles are being raised in captivity until they are ready to fend for themselves because they are endangered and need to be protected from natural predators. We suspect the real motivation for these turtle farms (there are several on all three islands) is that tourists love turtles. By saturating the waters around the Gilis with these cute creatures, they can guarantee a turtle sighting with every snorkel and dive trip offered.

Well, we saw them. They are still amazing. We are still obsessed with them. Kara especially. Kara wrote this caption. I love you, turtle. Max took the picture. He wanted you to know that.

The only time you see Kara reaching for bread is to feed it to fish. (You know, the wheat allergy.)

Little blue things growing on some coral!

Plastic in the water. Ugh. Why, people, why. The main attraction of the Gili Islands, without a doubt, is the diving and snorkeling. With this knowledge, we are still shocked and saddened that local people continue to throw waste of every type into their main money maker. We know its locals because the trash consists of local products which tourists do not usually use, such as instant noodle wrappers, laundry detergent bags, etc.

After the rain subsided, after we got sick of being propositioned for drugs, and "the Wire" was finished, we decided to head to Gili Air, the island we originally wanted to come to. Notice the not so small lizard creeping out of a hole in our makeshift outside bathroom attached to our bungalow. If it was raining, and you had to pee, you would get wet. Also there was no toilet seat on the toilet, which is not unusual. We don't understand why people would install western toilets without toilet seats. We have no problem, and in fact, prefer squat toilets. So, whats up, bungalow masters?

Max writes in his journal at the beach.

While Kara takes cheesy pictures of the sunset. Not pictured is the 15 minute photo shoot with a Dutch couple we befriended. The girl really wanted a sillouhetted holding hands iconic sunset shot. Kara obliged. It was hard for her to not throw up. Did you know, the Indonesian word for sunset is Matahari? Next.

Back on Bali after a couple of days of lazy nothingness in the Gilis. Max looks guilty as we indulged in the "cheesy duo" french fry combo plate at the A&W, "the true American restaurant." This "cheesy duo" cost almost as much as our hotel room. It was worth it. Kind of. We came to Kuta, (Bali) where this photo was taken, with the specific purpose of going to a good doctor as the ex pat population is out of control here and requires Western medicine. Kuta sucks, everybody. Just go to Florida. Unless you really like Australians. And then bring the Australian to Florida. Same Same. Not Different. We lasted one day in Kuta. Hospital, check. A&W's cheesy duo, check. Next stop, Medewi, South Bali.

Medewi beach is a tiny tiny tiny tiny place. Small stretch of beach. Village population, 200. A world reknown surf spot though. We also heard this was a great place for beginner surfers, so we headed here to get away from the crowds of Kuta and to learn how to surf.

Kara couldn't even go in the water at Medewi because she was avoiding the ocean on account of previous ear infections. Mom, its better, don't worry now. Max however, rented a surf board and got out there with some of the best surfers in the world. Literally. We were staying with the English kid champion surfer for example. The small area where the waves actually broke was saturated with surfers of this kind, and Max, a lifelong boogie-boarder, and first time surfer. Kara felt like a soccer mom watching Max. Max felt like a soccer kid playing up against Beckham. He is not pictured. He did not stand up. Lets not talk about that anymore.
After two days of attempted surfing, we decided to check out the surrounding area. They include a beautiful temple complex overlooking the ocean with a view of neighboring Java in the distance.
Here's our guide, not explaning anything. Temple was beautiful though.

Ocean fishing at sunset. Medewi beach.
After being in Bali for what seemed like forever, we decided it was time to move on to Java. On this penguin ferry.
Until Yogyakarta,
K and M