Here's Pat on the beach in Legian.
We turned a wrong corner in Kuta. There were many amazing dilapidated buildings and dead ends.
Our first sunset in Bali!
We found a vegetarian cafe in Seminyak (I always take a list of Happy Cow recommendations when I travel!) Pat says I get so smug whenever I find a place on my list, but I'm just happy to find a place where I can eat just about everything on the menu.
We enjoyed what would be there first of MANY whole young coconuts (kelapa muda).
We spent most of our time in Bali in Ubud, at the Rumah Roda, a homestay/hotel run by a local family. Here's Pat on our balcony:
Walking down Jl. Kajeng, the street Rumah Roda was on.
Not too far from Jl. Kajeng was Jl. Monkey Forest, which led to - surprise! - the Monkey Forest, which housed a temple as well as many monkeys. The carvings and sculptures amid the greenery were amazing.
Everywhere you looked, there were monkeys! Cuddling, playing, eating, fighting, and generally being cute.
Pat made a friend.
A few km walk took us to the Ubud Botanical Gardens. On the way, we saw a mama and baby cow.
The garden itself was beautiful and huge! Unfortunately it was raining torrentially just as we arrived. We still managed to enjoy ourselves, though.
Yet another walk (we did a lot of walking) took us to a small village near Ubud called Petulu. It's just one road, about 1 1/2 km long, but it's where all the herons come to roost and feed their young. We were there just before sunset, which is prime heron-watching time, so we got to see plenty of them (and we didn't even get pooed on, which happens a lot, so I'm told).
The next leg of our journey took us to many of Bali's incredible Hindu temples. (We decided to get a driver for that day!)
A few of the idols/statues/gods in the various temples.
The stunning view of Mount Batur.
A lotus in the Holy Water Temple.
Fountains in the Holy Water Temple.
The gods in the Goa Gajah (Elephant River) Temple.
Pat and I amid the greenery of Goa Gajah.
A local named Wayan (though it should be noted there are MANY locals named Wayan as it's a nickname for firstborns) took us for a 4 hour trek through the rice paddies and jungle around Ubud.
He pointed out these beans. Not just any beans...
...vanilla beans! Growing WILD!
Wayan's paddie.
We spent Christmas in a swanky lumbung in Mambal. During our time there, we hung out with people from Germany, Brazil, Finland, Holland and Byron Bay. We were quite an international crew.
After that, we went to a homestay in Apuan, just a bit further North. Our host, Komang, took us to a few more of Bali's most beautiful spots.
Munduk falls.
Ulun Danu Batur temple.
After Apuan, we headed to Gili Trawangan, where we learned to Scuba Dive (and got our Open Water certs to 18m! Woo) and spent New Year's. It was great. The Gilis have none of the stray dogs of Bali - instead, it's all stray cats. Oh, and no cars, only horsecarts. Not to mention to the swimming pool bars and the warungs (little restaurants) built directly on the beach. Food and drink are dirt cheap. We were so tired from diving, though, we didn't really make the most of the party atmosphere, but we still had a great time.
On the boat, heading to the Gilis.
After the bustle of Gili Trawangan (pop. 800), we headed to Gili Meno (pop. 300) for some well-deserved R&R. Actually, there's pretty much nothing to do but rest and relax on the beach, read, snorkel, hang out with the cats and stroll at a leisurely pace.
Pat, relaxing with our new friend, V.H. Footpet. Footpet was so called due to her lack of cleanliness and the fact that one should really only pet her with one's foot.
V.H. stands for Vaudeville Hoboface, due to the unfortunate ring of filth around her mouth resembling the smear of greasepaint you'd see on a hobo from the vaudeville stage. She ate out of the sand.
A shell-decorated resort on Gili Meno.
Some of the shell art we passed by.
The beach.
The view of Lombok.
The spectacular sunsets from Gili Meno.
Another tiny friend from the Sunset Gecko, the place we stayed on Gili Meno.
Patrick maxin' and relaxin'.
And now for a few parting shots.
The Starbucks in Ubud. A Starbucks. In Ubud. Yep.
And a sign for a carving shop that made us giggle...
That's all folks! Hope you enjoyed! We certainly did!
So so wonderful Thank you Seeyou in 3 months
ReplyDeleteAwesome photos, Mary. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great tale!! I especially loved the name you gave the cat. So you!!
ReplyDeleteAlso, that is awesome that your accommodations just had tour guides with it that took you to such stunning places! I want to get in on that for sure!
(also also, not sure why that's my user name on here...so yeah...)