News from Bali

We are in Bali in the city of Tuban. We arrived late on Friday (a 3 hour flight on Malaysia Air) from Kuala Lumpur. The airline is a very classy one and we had a whole meal on the way to Bali. The guide we hired picked us up and drove at breakneck speeds through the very crowded streets for about an hour before reaching our hotel. I was so surprised to see such poor conditions of the streets, run down buildings, trash everywhere; I was expecting something from the movie South Pacific and beautiful rolling hills, little huts, etc. Sharan had been here in 1998 and has not been able to recognize anything. The city is very over populated and poor with some nice hotels. But it doesn't seem to matter. Isee families laughing, having fun and most important of all - they are riding the motorcycles as families. Sharan and I have been holding our breaths for 2 days now hoping not to see a family crushed by big trucks as they navigate in and out of traffic. I often will see a little foot hanging out between mom and dad or a little one sitting in front of mom as she drives and these high speeds on her motorcycle. Yesterday we were at a stop sign and a family of 4 comes along side of us. I spotted a little boy of about 3 who reminded me so much of Leland, my grandson, when he was that age. He started waving and me and I waved back; he had mom look, then dad and before long we were all laughing and waving as we tore out when the light changed green.

What a wonderful evening on Friday. We were dropped for dinner on the coast and had dinner right up by the waves. We watched the sun set in pinks and then had wonderful grilled seafood of all kinds. There were maybe a 1000 tables on the beach with people watching the sun set and the water. Strolling musicians and dancers were really entertaining.

Yesterday we left our hotel at 8am (the hotel is beautiful) and drove to a performance of the Barong and Kris dance. What fun it was! The costumes were heavy brocade and the monkey that you often see here with the cap on his head was portrayed as a witch. It was pure fun for all and I was able to capture children laughing at the show and some dads sleeping. But we had a seat on the floor up front and could see everything. We then headed to the famous Batik factory where artists sit out front and paint for you. I did some serious shopping for the grandchildren and was able to bargin pretty well. The prices for things aren't cheap and it is hard to get used to the currency. John, if you read this, don't panic! I spent about 1 million rupiah yesterday! I am only trying to help the economy here! The rupiah is 9/100,000 or you just divide 9 into everything and then trust your vendors are honest.

We were in front of the Batick factory when a whole group of young girls ran up and wanted a photo with us with them. Everyone here is so friendly. We drove up the mountain and the further we got out of the city, the more the terrain looked like what I expected. It is so lush and green. Everywhere along the 1 road are people with shops attached to their houses/huts. We drove through artist colony after artist colony. The villages of Celuk, Mas and Ubud had so many shops of wood carving, of painting, etc. We stopped at a collective shop of many local artists and the prices were still too steep for me. Sharan and I wondered how people survive here because there didn't seem to be that much tourist traffic on the roads. We are guessing they export their art works.

We asked our guide about the terrorist attacks here. He said there is a big shrine for all that died and we are going there today; he also said all the terrorist have been tried and killed immediately after the trial. I didn't ask more questions because he obviously was very upset about the attack.

We stopped at several temples and I cleansed myself with the spring water and went into the first one, the Goa Gajah, the elephant cave temple. It was a cave, no doubt, but the grounds were just beautiful with all kinds of old statues and flowers and trees everywhere. The temples we visited were Hindu. Our guide is also Hindu and explained much of the tradition and ceremony. On the way back down the mountain, we stopped at the Sebatu - the holy spring water temple. I accidently looked into an area where a whole family was cleansing themselves before praying; luckily, I could back out quickly. Again, I was struck by the utter beauty of the place and the flowers and trees.

As we climbed higher and higher, we saw rice patties in various stages. Our guide said that it takes about 4 months for the rice to grow to harvest; so many people make their living from the rice. The guide said they get bags of grain from the government and then make a living growing and selling the rice. He also said their officials are elected here and each district has elected officials to represent them. We also saw families out cutting stalks and greens that I didn't recognize. They would either bundle them and carry on their heads or on the 2 ends of a pole.

We reached the top and had lunch on a terrace looking out to their big volcano, Mout Batur. How beautiful and huge! We could see the last eruption that I believe the guide said was 1994. The view from there is what I had imagined Bali to be (my South Pacific vision).

On the way back we stopped at Trisna Bli, an Agrotourism center of natural spices. It had just rained so we walked through the jungle to a clearing where they had labeled various trees but the center of attraction were mongooses! I am hoping some of you are familiar with the mongoose who eat the coffee beans, then pass them through and the natives clean the beans out of the poop and roast them. The coffee is supposed to be the best in the world. We really toyed with buying some but I didn't think any of you would drink it; so we bought tea instead and I won't tell you how they gathered that. Ha! But we helped the economy there too and John, I only spent 500,000 rupiah there. Ha!

I will quit now because we have breakfast to eat and then off to the lake and jungle to see the monkey forest, cliffs and no doubt more beautiful scenery. I have to believe this is one of the most beautiful spots in the world. But I miss John and my family, miss being able to drink water anytime I want, good internet connections and the good old USA and all of you. But while I am here, I intend to have more fun!