There is so much to tell, I think I will start with the beautiful city of Ubud. Ubud seems to be the 2nd tourism center in Bali, after the Kuta area. While Kuta draws low budget travelers and Aussies looking for cheap beers, beaches, and large clubs, UBud draws tourists of all budgets and all countries with the goal to experience a taste of the true Indonesian culture and amazing Indonesian food.
The highlight of our first day would have to be the Monkey Forest Sanctuary. We made our way that direction after finding a homestay with a comfortable foam bed, hot water, and free breakfast. We set to the streets to do some window shopping and we both had to use self control because the quality of artwork, jewelry and woodcarvings surpassed all places we had been so far on our trip. Also, I spied a non-profit organization called BAWA whose main purpose was to address problems posed by the transient dog population in Bali. They provide veterinary care for those who can afford it, run an adoption center, dog shelters, as well as spay, neuter and vaccinate dogs for the local population who can't afford it.I hoped that I would have the opportunity to lend my veterinary experience to good use and at least volunteer for one or two nights at their local animal shelter but the bureaucracy of the volunteer acceptance process kept my application from going through on time. Oh yes, I was going to tell you about the Monkey Sanctuary.
The Sacred monkey forest sanctuary is actually a holy area due to the temples there, built in the 1400s, as well as an ecological preserve for all the Balinese Mackacs that call it home. There we observed the harmonious relationship between god nature and humans and laughed our asses off!
Luckily both our cameras died and I was forced to use my good old 3GS iPhone to capture the moment otherwise, I would have no pictures to share. While trying to upload pictures for Lauren's last post, my memory card with all my pictures was corrupted and I wont know how many can be recovered, if any at all, until I can visit a legitimate camera shop back in the states. Luckily, Lauren and Jason's cameras have captured the bulk of our adventures together. Thanks you two, I'll be setting up a dropbox for us as soon as I get home since that sadly may be the extent of my contbution picturewise... But I'm thinking positive, if they can recover harddrives from computers that get ran over by cars or catch on fire this should be a piece of cake.
On our last day in Ubud we took an Eco-cycling tour to see the real bali. It was by far one of my best highlights for the trip. It started with a great breakfast overlooking Lake Batur, a crater lake nestled between the two peaks of Mt Batur, an very active volcano that erupted as recently as 2000.
From there we drove a short distance to a nearby plantation that harvested all types of fruit and coffee beans. We were not only able to observe the traditional coffee bean roasting process, but we were sat down for a complimentary tasting of various coffees and teas. I personally thought the ginseng coffee was the best. I hope I can find it back home! After that we were transported to a lot were we selected our bikes, grabbed helmets and then started our downhill adventure. First, We stopped at a home where we learn about the traditional customs and living structure if a typical Balinese family. Second, we visited a 500 year old Bantu tree where a local boy handed me a 4 in in diameter black and yellow Tree spider. Lauren snagged a good picture with it on my face! Maybe I can share it after I have my card looked at. Before lunch we were instructed that we had the option to hop in the car or bike 8.5 km uphill to lunch. Lauren I and some retired profesional triatheletes from New Zealand went chose the latter. These 60+ year olds were impossible to keep up with.
I was very impressed with the quality of food in Ubud and in Kuta. In Ubud we frequented an awesome coffee shop that served fresh dessert and coffee cakes and had an amazing organic and raw food menu that featured everything from Thai to Mexican. Also for our last night we enjoyed a salad and pizza in a quaint little warung that had two local musicians covering songs by request. I have been impressed by the quality of live musicians I have seen on my trip; I am reminded of the Bruno Mars cover we heard in Railay, which sounded better than his studio album, and the Santana that this pair was wailing out.
Well after our last day on the beach in Kuta, some awesome body surfing by yours truely, and a lot of shopping for the people back home we miss so much, I saw Lauren off at the Bali airport on her way to Sydney to visit Alexis Woodward, a friend she made her year at UW. With a 6 o'clock flight and nowhere to stay for the night I found a comfortable section of grass in a landscaping element in the front of the small, one terminal, international airport, laid down a beach towel and got comfortable for the night.
A day and a half later of traveling, I've found myself in Koh Samet. I started this on the beach but the light rain has chased me back into my bungalow. It was a beautiful sunny day yesterday but today is mostly overcast. Hopefully better weather tomorrow but the restaurants, bars & beach are close and the rents cheap, so complaints here! O and i forgot to mention there is live Thai Boxing at my place at 9 as well!
William
Wish I could provide more visual stimuli... Copy and paste something from above into google, that should do the trick.
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