Where is Bali?
That is exactly what I wanted to know when I heard about Bali. Those of us in the USA are, generally, not well oriented to the rest of the world, especially Asia.
Where is Bali?
That is exactly what I wanted to know when I heard about Bali. Those of us in the USA are, generally, not well oriented to the rest of the world, especially Asia.
Bali is an island in the Indonesian chain of islands, south of China and north of Australia, in the Indian Ocean. Since we are in Guam, we just had to fly five hours south and west to arrive in Denpasar, Bali. Indonesia is a huge chain of islands, some of which are in the throws of civil, violent, unrest. Bail is not. Bali is a tourist island and makes a huge income off of keeping international tourist happy. The majority of tourist come from Japan, Australia and Germany. We from the USA are definitely of the minority. So that is Bali, a tropical third world country about 10 degrees south of the equator, which also means that since we were there in June it was fall, the seasons being opposite of what we have in the northern hemisphere.
June 11th – Jim and I, and traveling companion Grant Barnes take off from Guam and arrived in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, late in the evening. Grant has been there before and is a seasoned traveler. He hails a taxi and gives directions to a hotel. The old sultans palace is beautiful, but too dark to see much detail, and it is also full. So we tried a few more hotels until finally one had rooms.
The driving experience was probably unique in all the world. They drive on the left, unless the right lane is open. There are scooters everywhere that seem to fill in any small spaces between cars. Traffic lights are “recommendations” not required to be followed and they don’t. Of course pedestrians were everywhere. Add to this the narrowness and darkness of the street and it was a life altering event to drive to the hotel. I am very unaccustomed to seeing headlight heading straight for us, but of course we were in the other lane. At the absolute last second the taxi slips back into the left lane, missing scooters, pedestrians and cars parked along the road. Clearly sensory overload set in on that drive. I was not frightened exactly, I just kept praying and seeing my life pass before my eyes.
We stayed at the Sukaru Hotel for $150,000. That is rupee not dollars. The exchange rate varied between 8500 and 8300 rupee per one US dollar. We had their executive suite, which meant there was toilet paper and a towel. Fortunately sleep came quickly.
June 12th – Upon arising we ventured out onto our balcony and watched the city awaken. In the river below our balcony, trash flowed in the brown water and a naked man bathed himself. The streets were filled with traffic and daylight added the horse carts with their tinkling bells. We had agreed that we were not interested in staying in the city so immediately after consuming our breakfast of tea, one boiled egg and toast covered in some sweet jam (type unknown), we headed north. North of the city and at a higher elevation sits the town of Ubud. The drive continued to be something Disney would have charge for. We drove to the end of town, got out of the taxi and were immediately approached by a nice young man offering us rooms. Grant had assured us that this was a common practice and one we could anticipate in any city in Bali. Rooms at Ubud Permia were $5.00 US per night per person. Of course at this rate there was no toilet paper or towels but did include breakfast every morning. We took pictures of the room and the all in one bathroom. The room was tiled, a shower head was on one wall and the commode was on the other. The sink was outside the room. Our rooms were at the edge of the Holy Monkey Temples built in the mid 14th century, called the “monkey forest” (really IN the monkey forest) so after unpacking, grabbed our cameras and walked through the Monkey forest. On the far side of the forest we found a wonderful building made of bamboo. It was a tower that had a rope bridge leading to another observation point. They also served tea at the Bamboo tower. So the three of us relaxed, talked and looked out over the rice fields. That evening we attended our first Legong Dance with Gamelong music and dancers at the palace. The music is created by hitting a metal xylophone type instrument with metal hammers. It is loud, rhythmical and takes a little adjusting to. Grant is an avid admirer of this music and I told him it was cacophony with a beat, that grows on you. Although I can not say I am enamored with this type of music I can appreciate the incredible technical difficulty of performing the music which has NO WRITTEN FORM!! The dancers were beautiful, graceful and enthralling. A unique characteristic of the Indonesian dance is the use of dramatic eye movements and extreme articulation of hands and fingers. Because the dance was held in a temple, Jim and Grant wore sarongs, as is politically correct. We were advised that especially at religious programs the men would be expected to wear a sarong, prayer sash and headdress. Women must just dress modestly, so I just wore a long dress. This is not a place were woman dominate in any aspect of life.
Although the day was warm and a bit humid, still beautiful, the nights were very cool, which was fortunate, we had a fan and just screens on most of the bamboo windows.
June 13th – The next day our driver, who was also the hotel owner, took us sight seeing. We went to the Elephant temple and Mother Temple. It is hard to describe the awe of standing in the middle of centuries old buildings and temples that are still in use. Many of the thousands of temples in Indonesia are being restored in a remarkable effort to preserve their history. As previously arranged by Grant, we went to US consulate in Denpasar to get a letter to visit a US prisoner in Indonesian prison. This is something Grant does in every country he visits. We asked to join him. We received a letter to the Denpasar prison to allow us to visit the prisoner. On return to Ubud we roamed the streets and took photographs of the rice fields and a girl carrying festival gifts on her head. The rice fields are remarkable because of the intricate irrigation system developed two thousand years ago and fully functional today. The water flows continuously from the mountaintop through a network of aqueducts to every field. The water moves very slowly but constantly so it is not stagnant or a breeding ground for mosquitoes. In the evening, we attended a high Barong at the palace temple. The Barong is a two-man costume of a hairy creature that resembles a giant Pekinese, with an attitude. We were becoming accustomed to the music, and were impressed how the dancers were able to move to it.
June 14th – We decided to really see the area, slowly and on foot. So we had the taxi drive us 10 kilometers or so to Amandari Hotel, which is the most expensive hotel in Indonesia. Beautiful building without walls overlooking a tropical rain forest. The swimming pool fascinated me the way it overflowed and had no edge on the far side. After a late delicious breakfast in the Amandari Hotel open dining room we began to walk back to Ubud. We roamed in and out of furniture manufacture shops, checking the price of hand made teak chair, $35.00 US each. A friend on Guam recommended the Indus Restaurant for lunch in north Champuen. As luck would have it, we walk by, rather in and ate again. The Indus was another magnificent building with exquisite gardens. Full stomachs required we walk. We next visited the Neka Art Museum. It was a delightful collection of formal Indonesian style buildings, exhibiting ancient and modern artist. At one time Bali was under Dutch control (until WWII Japanese occupation) and contained much Dutch art and information on the artist. I was particularly impressed with one Dutch artist, Willem Gerard Hofker, whose portrayals of Balinese women and temples are outstanding. I was able to acquire a print of one of his works to add to my personal collection. Antonio Blanco was also exhibited at the Neka and had lived in Ubud. His home is now a museum to his “Picassos like” works. He was an eccentric man and his son is building a huge museum to his father on the ground. The entrance is marked with black swans roaming the lawns and two huge concrete dragons on either side of the door. Through occasional torrential downpours we walked on . In and out of shops and stopping to sit on the steps of a shop to get shelter from a particularly heavy downpour. It was not cold and we did not melt so we kept walking. We had a wonderful day and great adventure walking back to Ubud. We had tea at Casa Luna and a light dinner before getting dry clothes and heading out again. This evening we attended a Balinese shadow puppet show, a classic Hindu tale of Kresna Wayang Kulit. I got the most pleasure watching two young boys (3-4 years old) laugh with great delight at the antics of the puppets. The show was in Balinese and the boys were Japanese. The puppets transcended any language barrier.
June 15th – We set off in a taxi early to visited Matthew Haynes in the Denpasar prison. He is the only American of the nine foreigners in Denpasar prison. He has been there since March waiting to get a trial date. The US consulate visits Matthew every week and brings him food from McDonalds. Matthew has lost about 30 pounds. Rather dramatic for a man that was not very heavy to begin with. I did not take pictures for fear of having my camera confiscated. Guards were pleasant, the facility was clean but utterly stark. Grant gave Matthew sports magazines from the states and we were able to visit and talk with Matthew for about 30 minutes. Matthew was tense, talkative, pale and thin. He said his back hurt and they gave him a mat to sleep on. He said the sore back really was a blessing because without it he would have had to sleep on the concrete as the other prisoners do. It was disturbing to see Matthew and interesting that he tried to keep our spirits up. We all recognized how dire his circumstances were and how foolish the act was that landed him in an Indonesian prison.
We left the prison and drove to Kuta and Nusa Dua to have lunch on the beach and to see “tourist area”. Flying kites is an ancient Indonesian means of communication. When it was time to harvest the rice fields a farmer would fly a kite so all could see he was ready for help. We were able to watch a team of maybe 50 men launch a 35 foot kite from the beach. The kites sail to 1000 feet or more. They were everywhere. Apparently there is a kite flying contest coming up in July. Aside from the contest it is a major pass time. After being inundated by peddlers, our driver had locked the keys in the car, we were on our way again. We visited the Hilton to see what the expensive rooms were like, but the real fun of Bali is to have a nice place to stay for very little. We toured silver and gold shops and furniture makers and once again walked the streets to Monkey forest. In the evening we attended the Kecak fire dance. It is a chorus of about 100 men chanting rhythmically as dancers act out another story. Finally a man on a straw toy horse does the trance dance and dances through the fire. It was interesting that the dancer was supposed to be in a trance that allowed them to dance in the fire without being burned and the men that continuously swept the embers back into a pile for the dancer, were apparently unharmed, barefooted and not in a trance.
June 16th – The water was off this morning as we prepare to fly to Java. The monkeys returned to the dining room while we had our breakfast. The Hindu religion teaches respect for all living things. But commerce has made the locals adjust their application of their faith. The monkeys are aggressive and tear up the thatched roofs so, rather than tolerate the monkeys, they drive them off with unloaded slingshots and long padded bamboo poles. This works without making the gods angry. We flew about one hour to Yogyakarta, Java. What a shock after Bali! Hot, humid and the air smells of exhaust fumes. We arranged for rooms at a “home stay” called Duta Gardens. It turned out to be very nice and has AC, toilet paper and towels. The cost of rooms include breakfast but at Duta they also provide evening tea and biscuit. We settled in and headed to Prambanan Temple for the first part of a 4 evening dance program. The Temple was built in the 9th century and consists of three main temples and many lesser ones.
The temples were lit by spot lights and a full moon, making a very moving ethereal sight. As we took our seat the temple’s towers back lit the stage from about a quarter mile away. A stunning sight that set the mood for an enchanting evening of music, song and dance. We had upholstered chairs in the first row. We were immediately impressed that Java music is more melodic then Balinesian. I was completely mesmerized by the music and beautiful people dancing on stage.
June 17th – After a wonderful breakfast and tea we went to Borobudur. One of the wonders of the world, this is the largest Buddhist temple in the world, built in the 8th –9th century. Each terraced gallery has miles of murals carved into the stone walls. Ultimately you reach the top and the “stupas” that each contains a carving of Buddha. It took all morning to climb the stairs and examine the intricate stone work. The temple has been restored several time and is currently being worked on. The temple is a national treasure and the ground had hundreds and hundreds of school children, who obviously found us to be unusual. Time after time students stopped us to take our pictures and to have their picture taken with us. Finally a group of ten college boys stopped us to practice their English. They were charming and friendly to visit.
We returned to our hotel to shower and head out again. We rode in a bercek ( basket on a bicycle – pedicab) to the marketing center of town. What a crush of humanity! The taxi was suddenly a safe means of transportation when compared to a bercek. We diced for space and moved with traffic. The fumes from the buses and trucks choked and blacken the air. There was a black film over my skin and clothes. We alighted the bercek to be descended upon by con men and street peddlers. Not just approached to buy their wears, we are talking the real IN YOUR FACE sales technique. We went across the street which was a challenge in it’s self, you walk into traffic and pray it does not hit you, just to have lunch in a hotel restaurant. Then we went Batik shopping. The fabrics were beautiful and of every imaginable color. I really liked that they had color and pattern coordinated fabrics and included a fine scarf that matched. It was less pressure in the shops then on side walks, filled with vendors and beggars leaving just enough room for one person to squeeze by at a time.
June 18th- This morning at breakfast, we met Barbara Godfrey from Melbourne, Australia. She was delightful and joined us for the day as we toured the Water Gardens, bird market and the Sultan’s Palace. Such fancy names for crumbling ruins of the Water Gardens. The sultan had a palace overlooking the pools where young girls would bath and make his selection for that evening companionship. The bird market was a crush of birds, people and cages. The pigeons were sold for food but the songbirds and what we consider exotics, were everywhere. Brilliantly colored, sweet singing birds from all over Asia and Australia. Jim had to keep reminding me, I couldn’t export them. Guam is so silent without birds and suddenly I was surrounded by all the bird sounds. I loved it. After dragging me from the bird market, we went down more narrow alleyways to where our bercek drivers were waiting to take us to the palace of the current sultan. It was beautiful and interesting. It was also a point of revelation for Jim. He has decided he wants to be a sultan as his next career!! In the evening the four of us went back to Prambanan for part three of the Ramayana story. The setting of the beautiful temples and graceful dancers lost none of their magic on us. At the end of a magical day and great companionship, we said goodbye to Barbara Godfrey and prepared to catch a 7am flight to Bali.
June 19th We flew back to Bali on Garuda Airlines and immediately noticed how refreshing, clean and welcoming Bali was. We had all decided that for the conclusion of our trip we would return to Ubud and stay at a home stay called Ubud View. We had found it on one of our walking tours. The “view” was of rice fields and small villages in the distance, and the ever present kites in the sky. We shopped a bit and had an early dinner. We have learned to appreciate the fine, world class, international cooking found on Bali. In the evening, Grant went to a concert and Jim created his own concert on a bamboo gamelong in the hotel. Before long Jim was joined by several local young men and a jam session resulted. I sat on the balcony listening to the music and watching the mood rise over the rice fields. I became fascinated watching several groups of men with lanterns gathering crawdads from the rice fields. One man carried a bucket and the other, with the lantern, had long tongs. They walked together through the rice fields and frequently grabbed up crawdads and dropped them in their bucket. This was our last night in Indonesia.
June 20th – Our plane didn’t leave until 10pm so we were able to have a final day of shopping and lunch. Much to our surprise and delight, Barbara Godfrey walked into the restaurant. How tiny our planet is, when you can be 10,000 miles from home and a friend walks in to join you for tea. We had a chance to visit a bit more, exchange email addresses and say a final goodbye. The afternoon was spent getting a facial and massage in a spa. Our experience was different from Grant’s. He had a terrible experience and we had a wonderful massage, complete with burning incense and soft west Java music. We said our farewell to Bali on a balcony overlooking the rice fields, a very magical beautiful place and time.
We had an uneventful flight home to Guam, arriving at 5:30 AM Guam time.
Now you know where Bali is, near and dear to our hearts.
Jean and Jim Gibson
