What A Year!

Commentary continued from previous post.

FRI -- Tonight, New Years Eve we go to a Balinese Banquet buffet.

The tour company, Intrepid, bills itself as adventure tours.  That it is.  I have seen back roads and country inns so to speak.  We have had cycling, walks up and down rice fields, through local villages, across babbling brooks, over volcanic rocks and trips in little boats to snorkel and see dolphins.  We have eaten lots of local food.

Quite an experience although I am not exactly ready for it I am glad I have had this experience.

Judy

 

Temples To The Left of Me, Temples To The Right

Commentary continued from previous post.

THU -- Piled into the two vans transporting us around the island from place to place and arrived in Lovina Beach the second largest city in Bali.  Here the accommodations while not great are infinitely better then the last two nights.  There are many tourists here and hawkers everywhere.

FRI --Started the day at 5:45 to go see the dolphins.  We went four in an outrigger and just when we reached the dolphins the heavens opened and it poured.  Although I did not get any pictures because of the rain we saw groups of dolphins surfing the waves.  Returned to our hotel drenched.  Had breakfast and it began to pour again.  Turns out this is the rainy season in Bali.  Still it beats the ice and snow.  We have also had some very nice weather in between the rain.  Today's activities canceled until 3 PM when we go to see a Buddhist Monastery.  Like I haven't seen enough Buddhas lately.

Going Green

Commentary continued from previous post.

WED -- Accommodations have turned decidedly more basic. Tonight we stayed in a hotel which had towels but no soap.  The grounds were not bad but the rooms were desperately in need of repair. 

Also I now have an Australian roommate named Gail from Sydney but who is living in East Timor which is a country that Indonesia ran and then left after ransacking the place.  She has an Australian grant to work there.  But I digress.

The biggest activity today was climbing up Mount Batur, a volcanic mountain, starting (me, not the volcano) at 4 AM.  I did not even try to make it to the top because the climb was just too much for me.  The view was still fantastic although I am sure those at the top had an even better view. 

After the climb which only I did not complete we went to a marvelous hotel for an afternoon at hot springs.  The water was warm and wonderful.  Then we piled in the vans for our next stop.

THU --After another night in the most basic of accommodations we have spent the morning snorkeling.  There was an amazing assortment of breathtaking coral in different colors, pulsating with many fish of many colors in schools under us.  After snorkeling we had a catered lunch delivered in packages made of banana leaves filled with little fried fish, green beans and ferns, different types of tofu, a chicken leg and the proverbial warm rice tucked under a layer of the banana leaves.

Intrepid Travelers All

SUN -- Can hardly walk.  The white water rafting was exhilarating.  First time in my life I have done it. It was only at the end when we had to go back back up that the going got tough.  I needed help and was the last one to make it to the top panting and totally out of breath.

 
NOTE:  The intrepid editor has not coordinated pictures with commentary.

MON --Today we rode bikes.  The guide asked me if I wanted to go in the van, thought I couldn't bicycle.  In the end that was my strongest suit.  He is a guy from Java, Sutar, who one member fondly calls Java Man.  He was surprised that I did so well and kept saying I was strong woman.  I am the oldest person in the group by about 15 years.  They are mainly Australian except myself and one German and an English couple living and teaching in Shanghai.  That leaves six Australians.

We saw fields of rice being harvested and drying on plastic sheets on the side of the road.  Before today I only saw rice paddies submerged under water.  Here I saw the mature rice paddies which resembled short stalks of wheat.  They then shake the rice from the plant, polish it and dry it.

 

Again our hotel resembles paradise.  No wifi but hot water.

TUES -- Today we started with a walk in a local rice field and to a Temple where the people from the town go to celebrate the harvest.   They have three days of celebration two times a year.  The Balinese are very spiritual.  They make offerings and pray every day.  We must wear sarongs to enter the temples.  Also went to a monkey sanctuary where they jumped on you.  One monkey shit on one of our group.  Was not enamored of having a monkey on my shoulder.

Refreshing Palate Cleanser

Adventures In Paradise

After quite a workout, white water rafting, bicycling,  climbing over rocks, crossing babbling brooks through rice fields and climbing up halfway to a volcano (everyone else made it all the way up) and snorkeling in coral reefs, we have reached the second largest city in Bali where I have found wifi.  Intrepid Travel calls their tours adventure tours and they are just that.  Quite an experience.

Will write more tomorrow.

Judy

While The Cat's Away...

There's radio silence from Bali, and the editor, like nature, abhors a vacuum.

It Aint Snowin' In Bali

Read about the blizzard on the East Coast.  [It was 84F in Bali today. Ed.]

While you all freeze I saw rice paddies in the morning and went white water rafting in the afternoon.  Saw a Balinese performance with human voice music and dancers.  Culminated with a man in horse costume walking over burning coconut shells.

Off to the countryside today to more basic accommodations.

Soon,

Judy

Night Market

This is the night market near Ubud where we are at the moment in Bali.  It was pouring rain on and off last night which put a damper on the activities.  

Judy 

Merry Christmas From Bali

Bali is beautiful. Hotel has no television, no hairdryer, no air conditioner, not too much hot water and no elevator but is really wonderful. They do, however, have wifi in the public areas. Flowers are festooned everywhere. The pool area and the reception are together outside. The place has Indonesian statues all over covered with moss. Palms and flowering trees and plants all around. There are little offerings with incense everywhere. Paradise!

I have met some of the people from my group. Some are doing one week and others two weeks. It turns out the company that runs the tour is Australian. I have heard nothing but rave reviews.

Started today with a wonderful massage which cost $5. We start the tour officially tomorrow and begin traveling around Bali. The next half is on another island.

The people here are a combination of Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims and Christians. Covers a lot of bases. 

Will report more along the way.

Judy

I'm Off On The Road To Morocco...

The Raisin Debt of Pattaya

The highlight and really the only good thing about Pattaya was The Tiffany Show.  Even if there were not guys in drag it would have been spectacular but the fact that they were all guys made it even more so.  The costumes. lighting, choreography were like a Las Vegas showgirl extravaganza.  

Pattaya

 

I am now in Pattaya, a very gaudy, decadent beach resort two hours from Bangkok.  The disconnect between the Girly girls and Girly boys and religious offerings of incense on the street at religious shrines is quite a phenomenon.  It is definately honky tonk of the highest level.  The place is filled with bars, beer halls, massage parlors, souvenir shops and seafood restaurants where you buy your king prawns or lobsters by the kilo before you start. (I just had two prawns couldn't afford three.) There is a full moon and I am enjoying it.Made friends with my neighbors at the end of my meal, a Japanese man of 71 and a lovely Thai woman in her late twenties I think.  Here are also food carts, pizza joints, Irish bars and The Hard Rock Cafe.  

There are a lot of really ugly men with young Thai women.  That seems to be a big attraction here for men looking for women or men looking for girly men.

There are Russians, Iranians, Germans, Japanese, English, Americans, Arabs, Australians, Indians, Koreans, French and Chinese here.  My hotel which happens to be terrible is also full of Russians and Indians. Ii have not heard anyone speaking in English.  There seems to be many families especially from India.  Yesterday we went by speedboat to an island for a few hours.  I had trouble getting into the speedboat which was just off shore.  You had to wade in and climb aboard.  The Indian women had their long saris to deal with as well.  The island was pretty tacky but the lunch was seafood straight from the sea.  We stopped on the way there and they tried to sell some paragliding or however you say it and it was amusing to see people take off and land.  I might have tried it twenty years ago.

By the way there are a zillion seven eleven stores here plus KFC and the golden arches.  Everywhere there are Starbucks.  Incredible.  In every city in Asia I have seen these stores.

I am going to the beach today and then to a floating market.  Tomorrow a botanical garden and then back to an airport hotel in Bangkok to leave for Bali at 6:15 AM on Friday

Judy

Cooking Class

Cooking school was really terrific.  This rather flamboyant Thai guy has a great setup. He only charges about $30.  he has two classes per day and travels in the off season.

You start at the market and then go to his place down alleys you would never find.  His school was an apartment with three rooms with a porch outside.  All the cooking equipment is out on the porch.  

There was a large group of 14 and there were 14 cooking stations.  We started by making fresh coconut milk from grated coconut we bought at the market.   Everyone prepped different stuff in different rooms and then we made fabulous spicy soup, Pad Thai, Chicken salad with mint,p and chicken with green curry paste with eggplants smaller then grapes. 

He showed us how to make sweet sticky rice which we had for dessert with mango.  We ate as we finished each course.  I was at least twice the age of all the others but c'est la vie.  I think I might have a next career with some kind of cooking program at my house.  I was impressed with the class in Vietnam and was even more impressed here. 

More Random Shots From Bangkok

I saw a lotta Buddhas today.  In fact I saw a solid gold Buddha.  There is a strange mixture of Buddhism mixed with Hinduism here in Thailand and also in Cambodia.  The Temples have Hindu Mythology mixed with Buddha.  They are definitely Buddhists but the Hindu stuff is there.  There are also many Indian tourists as well as many others from many places.  I heard French, Chinese, English, Italian, Korean, Japanese and Hebrew at the principal tourist spots.

Went to the wholesale flower market.  They make arrangements for different events like weddings, funerals, offerings and loose bunches ( lots of orchids)

Random Shots From Bangkok

The Elves Give It Their All

Sitting here at a restaurant named Cabbages and Condoms. 

The Christmas tree here is done with condoms as well as the light shades and flower pots.  I googled the restaurant and decided to take a taxi and try it.  It wasn't bad.  I had lunch from a street vendor.  That was also pretty good.  This city is a vibrant lively and relative to Vietnam -- and especially Cambodia -- a very wealthy place.

The elves do Santa.  Always suspected, but who knew?

Don't Forget To Put On Your Rubbers