Visiting Hannah and Greg, part 2: Bali (1st two days)

Bali is only a two and a half hour flight from Singapore. After two days in Singapore, we awoke the third morning and boarded a plane bound for Bali, Indonesia. Bali is on of over 1,000 islands in the country, and one of the more developed because of it's status as a popular tourist destination.

We stayed at Villa Coco, which is in Seminyak, an area of the island. The taxi ride from the airport was terrifying and fun at the same time. There are road lines, but that doesn't mean anyone abides by them. Driving in Bali is first come first serve. People cut you off, cars dart in and out, there's constant tailgating, and blinkers are seen as announcements rather than requests. Not to mention, they drive on the left side of the road, which just feels very awkward.

Our villa, view from the door 

Finally, we made it safe to our villa. We had our own private pool, lounging chairs, a kitchenette and living room type area all outside. Our two bedrooms were separate buildings each with their own bathrooms. The bathrooms were technically "indoors," but not really. They had walls and ceilings, but the walls weren't connected to the ceiling everywhere. They also weren't air conditioned. So, going to the bathroom meant simply going through a door into another room, but it was also like going outside. 

Kitchen and common area

Our first day, we went to get massages at a parlor called Body Works. In Bali, one US dollar is worth about 8,000 Rupiah. So, your money goes a long way. An hour long massage with (not 1 but) 2 people massaging me in synch only cost about $35.

Relaxed Hannah and Greg after some good Balinese massag'n

The rest of the evening we spent enjoying our awesome villa and room service.

Day 2 in Bali:
We were picked up early at our villa by our tour guide for the day. The plan: a bike tour through Bali's rural mountain area. It was a long drive north to the mountains. On the way we stopped at a coffee plantation for a quick little tour, and so that they could "farm some money from tourists" as Greg put it. (Heather and I proved very fertile in this regard.)

Me and my sweetie among the vegetation. They even had cinnamon trees 

After showing us how different coffee beans are grown, harvested and processed, they sat us down for free samples.

Enjoying our many different assorted coffees and teas

 We were sitting on the side of a cliff, our table was facing out toward a chasm full of jungle-y vegetation.

All hopped up on coffee!

For lunch (still haven't gotten to the biking yet) we stopped at this awesome restaurant at the top of a mountain with a killer view of a volcano and a lake.

The black soil is burned from the last eruption

Front of our mountain side eatery

Romance on the side of a mountain

After lunch, we finally made it to the bikes. We donned helmets and heard a quick "crash" corse on bike safety and pedaled. (I use the term "crash," because the first thing Greg did on his bike was to wreck it.)

Other than our group of 4, there were three others from China

Rice fields. For miles and miles, we rode past rice fields.

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Even though it was in a hilly part of the island, the rice patties were were flat and terraced. Our tour guide boasted that Bali has the best irrigation system in the world. And while, I wouldn't bet that it was the best in the world, considering the level of development for this country, it was very impressive. There were drainage ditches and pathways for the water everywhere. When it spilled out of one rice patty it was always routed toward another. They didn't waste a drop. I imagine this is essential during the dry season.

The terracing was beautiful

Though we biked for 2.5 hours, most of our ride was downhill. However, we did have a few uphill sections. One in was really long and steep. Afterwards we were all sweating profusely, and this picture showcases Greg's particular hurting after the hill.

Hoping he's not about to throw up

Our bike trip through rural non-touristy Bali took us through several villages and towns. Little kids yelled to us, excited to see rich Americans and gave us high 5s as we passed by. We kept going by the walled off compounds. I took picture after picture of them, until I found out that they were people's houses. In a highly Hindu culture, each compound was surrounded by a wall, had multiple structures and their own temple. Families live together, multiple generations in one compound.

After the biking concluded we stopped at our tour guides house as his wife had prepared an amazing Balinese spread of food for us. We all had a few reservations about eating completely authentic local food (fearing Montezuma's Revenge!), but it turned out to be the best meal we had. Oh my gosh, her food rocked my world. I went back for thirds! If I was the kind of Mormon that had multiple wives, I would marry this guy's wife, and Heather would have no objections.

We sat at a low table which was tough for non-limbre Greg and Nathan

 Here's a video of walking into our tour guides compound and looking around. Hopefully it works.

Full bellies in front of one of the buildings in the compound

Our ride back to the villa was horribly long. It wouldn't have been if we hadn't gotten stuck in the worst traffic jam. We sat at on traffic light, waiting to go on a round-a-bout for an hour. Plenty of other lanes were moving, just not ours. There were traffic cops directing the traffic circle, but they never gave priority to our road. FOR AN HOUR we sat and watched them ignore us. It was soooo frustrating.

Scooters out numbered cars on the roads by at least 5 to 1

Finally back at the villa, we relaxed and went to bed, ready for another adventure the next day...the next blog. See you then.