We both knew about Kuta from reading guidebooks and knew to stay away from it. On the first night we had our first taste of Bali cuisine which blew us both away. I was really hungry at the time but I thought that our first meal there was some of the best food that I've ever had. Upon reflection, though, I know for sure that Bali probably had the best variety of and quality of food that I've eaten anywhere in the world. And the fresh juice...honestly, it's good (and cheap) enough to make the trip to Bali just for that reason. But, other than that meal, Kuta was unimpressive as expected. Caitlin got creeped out at an internet cafe by a local, I was offered magic mushrooms countless times in the ally where we stayed, and I'm sure other things occurred that aren't worth mentioning but I don't remember. The next morning it was off to Ubud.
So, what we read about Ubud was that it is Bali's cultural and culinary center. All of this is totally true but when I first got there I had a hard time getting used to the spiritual/raw food/working vacation/zen power trippin'/yoga pants wearin'/just read Eat Pray Love type of tourists. (I'm allowed to make fun of this stuff because I'm into most of it, but I think that the chances of being annoyed around this crowd are very high.) But, honestly, the food and juices were so good that I would put up with any crowd to be around it...even in this otherworldly supercharged Asian Shadyside (a Pittsburgh reference, sorry if you don't know it). The place that we stayed at in Ubud was awesome and it was only 90,000 rupiah (about $9 a night) split between two people. A worker there named Made ('Mah-day') befriended us and then wanted us to send him Japanese textbooks so that could learn how to speak better with Japanese tourists. Obama was a topic that came up with him (as it did with many people there) and I explained why I was hopeful about his presidency. Made then told me about Indonesia's president and how he was also hopeful that he was going to bring clean drinking water to the village where he lives. This conversation really stuck with me.
Next, we wanted to get out to some weirder and crazier parts of the island so we got on a bus heading to a volcano north of Ubud. Our driver was cool and he took us the 'secret way' there so that we didn't have to pay an entrance fee. This town was great because there really were no other tourists besides a Swedish couple who we saw walking around the one street that exists there. We very quickly got to know the people that we were staying with which allowed them to repeatedly offer their volcano hike tour packages to us even when we assured them that we were completely not interested (we were probably even still sore from Mt. Kinabalu). By this time, though, I was attuned to the methods of disarming their persistence. We bought some paintings off of a guy named Zero who makes his living, like almost everyone else does, on the tourists that spend money there like it's nothing. In the evening, I heard gamelan percussion (indigenous to Bali) in the distance so Caitlin and I followed the sound and sat down with some guys who were drunk on wine, just enjoying the evening and their music. This might have been my favorite night in Indonesia.
The next morning we had arranged a ride from the volcano to Lovina, a quiet beach town located on the northwestern part of the island. It was a long, hot, and bumpy trip and I was not in a good mood when a woman ran up to me as I was stepping out of the van, trying to show me a hotel room. We ended up staying with her and by now I was realizing that it's pointless to bargain hunt because the hassle of getting people off of your back is not worth the small amount of money that you'd save. Lovina was a peaceful experience and our one day snorkeling adventure was one of most amazing things that I have done...and I really didn't expect it to be.
We ended up back in familiar territory as we were back in Ubud the night before we were leaving for Singapore. This time we knew the deal here and just took it easy with one day left in the country. I think we each ate about six meals each this day and then went to see Balinese dance with live gamelan drums. It was incredible and I felt really lucky to be witnessing it.
Earlier this day, we also got to check out the monkey park in central Ubud. People were letting these monkeys jump all over them and sometimes even scratch and bite them which I thought was crazy but no one else really seemed to mind. This was a really interesting place to observe and it was like no other park that I've ever been to. And as with a lot of Bali, there were large groups of Russians everywhere which made me excited to visit there in August.
Some other things that were prevalent around the island were makeshift gas stations which were usually just reused glass bottles with gasoline in them. Sometimes young children would be the ones who would fill up your vehicle by pouring the gas into a funnel that led to your gas tank (not the safest thing in the world!). Stone carvings were also EVERYWHERE and that's what gives Bali it's magic feeling- there is ancient stonework all around that provides the outline for streets and cities and, combined with the smell of incense and clove cigarettes, this stuff really makes Bali what it is. Finally, while walking on the streets it's impossible to pass up the banana leaves and flowers that are strewn everywhere as Hindu offerings (Bali, unlike the rest of Indonesia which is Muslim, is a Hindu culture). The are always everywhere you walk, almost like a parade has just rolled by.
And after a week, our time on the island was done. I think we both came away from Bali with an impression of an incredible place with such a unique creative energy for all aspects of life. I feel like I need to go back and see more of Bali and Indonesia because I can't imagine a place to be more interesting in a strange, magical kind of way. Next, it was off to Singapore for our last two days of traveling.
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