Spring Break 2007 --- Bali, Indonesia
Spencer and I headed down to Bali for Spring Break. We had an amazing time – I’m still trying to catch up on my sleep!
We were fortunate enough to be able to stay with Jeff, a friend of Spencer’s friend who has lived on Bali for 18 years. He let us crash in his fantastic
pool house, took us out to amazing restaurants, and pointed us in the direction of the best surfing beaches. (the real house is too the right of the pool house, out of the photo.)
There is even a secret underwater tunnel connecting one arm of the pool to the other!!!
The second day we headed to the north side of the island to dive the US T Liberty, which was sunk very close to shore in the 1940’s by Japanese torpedoes. It was so close, in fact, that the bungalow we stayed in was probably 400m meters from the wreck. The sea life around the ship was fantastic, the water clear and warm.
...I didn't take any pictures diving, but this is the view from the bungalow looking away from the beach, this is one of the many active volcanoes on Bali.
The next day we explored the interior of the island along narrow winding roads through wet rainforests and rice terraces. We passed many little villages, all surrounded by a thick wall and many temples. There are thousands and thousands of temples on the island – every extended family or village has at least 3! The Balinese are almost all Hindu, but their own variety of Hindu, with mountain gods and ocean demons.
Many wear their traditional religious clothing - sarongs and waist ties, the men wear special folded headbands, and the women carry everything balanced on their heads.
A misty road at the top of one of Bali's active volcanoes.
...rice terraces. The scenery was kind of like Hawaii-meets-Vietnam
..."pack the cattle in the truck and lets get outta here!"
Spencer and I explored Ubud, a village taken over by artisans (the hub of the hippies who came in the 70’s and never left…) – the place was a maze of temples and sidewalks snaking in and out of rice fields and forests so intense they grew up the sides of walls. Wood carving was big there, as well as batik and painting.
...trees growing out of walls
...the walkway to a little place to eat that serves great gado gado.
...Balinese washing in a sacred spring in the middle of town. This was the view from the gado gado place.
Held prisoner in Ubud!
...everything is lush and green, even the steps
...every community was walled and everyone had very elaborate entrance ways similar to this.
...this is the entranceway for the homestay we stayed at in Ubud.
...we hunted for this market in Ubud for an hour, ended up getting lost and walking through rice paddies!
...a gateway into the jungle on our way to Ubud.
The following day we headed back down to Denpasar to hit the surf. Following Jeff’s suggestions, we headed out to Dreamland Beach, a humble, secluded little patch of sand surrounded by tall cliffs. A few bamboo and reed bungalows and places to eat were built up the sides of the cliff and dozens of shaggy-haired, pink-nosed people wandered around. We wasted no time renting boards - the waves were steep and pretty big I used a short board, a whole different game than Great Lakes surfing! Once I got the hang of duck diving, though, it was great. I LOVE SURFING.
We surfed for 2 days at Dreamland, and stayed at an amazing reed bungalow built up the side of the next cliff. This is the view form our room high up the cliff.
...this is the way UP the side of the cliff to get back to the road. We stayed in a bungalow similar to the one behind Spencer.
We went out with Jeff our last night and had stuffed ourselves at a Korean Barbecue, tried barbecued cows tongue and interesting fish dishes, and met some of the locals. Our final morning we woke up too early and surfed at Kuta Beach, rented long boards and surfed the slush. I almost didn’t get on the plane to come back to Thailand!
...a scary ride for ducks
