Sorry this post took forever to get up because I have so many pictures from this week. I probably should have split this into two entries, but oh well. It's one now.
The week started out with a VIA field trip. We rented a car for the day because we had to drive to Denpasar, which was a bit over an hour away from where we were staying. First we stopped at the VSO (sort of like the British Peace Corps) office and got an overview on how they run their Indonesia programs. It was very interesting to see how a big government org runs their programs compared to our little NGO. There are positive and negatives to both.
Next we decided to visit the Elephant Cave which was, in my opinion, hyped up in the Lonely Planet tour books way more than it deserved.
These statues outside of the cave were pretty. If you go and put some of the water over your head it's supposed to give you good luck. At least that's what somebody told us. He may have just wanted to see the dumb foreigners get wet. Anyway, we all did it and there were no major disasters the rest of the day, so maybe it worked.
This is the enterance to the Elephant Cave, which would be more aptly name The Elephant Nook or The Elephant Cranny, because it was really tiny inside and there wasn't really much in there, just two small statues, one of Vishnu (the hindu god with an elephant's head) hence the name.
Next we went to the Bali Bird Park which turned out to be way more expensive than any of us were counting on but we decided to go in anyway. Actually for me it wasn't that expensive because I already have my permanent visa and so I got charged the reduced local rate.
This is practically the first thing we did upon entering. There we all these birds hanging out on little stands and the guy started putting them on us one by one. As some of you know, my mother irresponsibly took me to the vets office as a child and let me sit next to some kind of evil cockatoo that bit my arm and ever since I've been a bit uneasy around birds with large beaks. So this was not the best moment of my life. Also the two red parrots kept fighting and sticking their claws into me. Still, it was pretty cool. I liked the really big black bird the best actually. He was really calm.
Here are some various photos of the exotic birds there. Some of the birds were in cages that I felt were way too small, but they had birds unlike anything I'd seen before so that was cool.
This is a pelican that was resting with his head turned all the way around and it was totally freaky looking.
Next, we went to the Bali Reptile Park which was right next door and actually included in our admission to the bird park. Since it was so expensive, we were going to get our money's worth, even though the park was about to close. So we rushed in and tried to see everything quickly but actually it was fairly small and we didn't need to rush. Despite the small size, it had pretty cool exhibits and a few lizards and a tortoise that you could pet.
A Komodo dragon! I don't think I'm going to make it to Komodo while I'm here (although who knows) so I was glad I got to see one. They aren't kidding when they say these guys are huge. The ones we saw weren't even that big i guess but they were intimidating. I wouldn't want one chasing me, that's for sure.
A cobra! A pissed off cobra! Don't worry, it's in a glass case. It apparently doesn't like tourists taking it's photo.
Another dragon
That evening we went to Taman 65 in Denpasar with is a really interesting group that VIA is associated with through a summer program that they run out of Bali. I didn't take any photos here but I want to describe it a bit because it's one of the coolest things I did. The group is an informal gathering of friends and like minded peers who get together weekly in a family complex in the capital city of Bali. They get together to discuss social issues. They don't like to call themselves activists, although as an outside I'd probably call them social activists. We sat in on the tail end of a discussion on Global Warning. When the discussion was over they broke out the Arak (rice wine) and continued talking in a more informal, one on one way. It was really interesting to see that kind of thing in Indonesia because on Java people are fairly repressed and in my small town I feel like I'd never ever seen anything like that. It was really kind of inspiring to be around such open, intelligent, passionate people. I ended up going back another time but that second visit will be discussed in my 3rd week post.
After this we went to Kuta for a few days, I can't really remember how many but basically we just went to nice Western restaurants, sat on the beach, drank Arak, and went dancing. Nothing very blog worthy except a day trip to Padangbai to go snorkeling. It was my first time snorkeling and I'm glad I was with a group. I liked it although I kept getting freaked out and had to look around for my friends to make sure the world hadn't like disappeared while i was looking at the fish. There were some awesome fish. I wish I had an underwater camera. There were fish just like the book Rainbow Fish that my sister Megan used to love.
After this my friend Dave and I decided to split from the group as it's really sort of frustrating to try to do anything in a big group. We decided to go up north for a few days. Actually Dave decided because the night before we left was the inauguration so instead of helping him plan I went to an ex-pat bar and joyously watched CNN and enjoyed the free drinks. For once, it was a good thing to be an American.
Anyway, our first stop was the mountain town of Chandi Kunning. It turns out another VIA vol, Kristi, had the exact same plan so we ended up taking the same car up and staying in the same hotel. And seeing the sights together. So much for splitting from the big group.
The town was really nice (and the temperature was so cool). It had a larger Muslim population than the other parts of Bali I'd been to so it felt more like Java to me and actually that made it feel homey and nice.
Our hotel was really pretty and had these cute cats.
We wen to the market and I bought some spices. They had all these Krupuk (crunchy cracker things) that we tried and they were actually kind of gross. Krupuk in general are good, just not these.
We went with Kristi to see a large botanical garden very close by.
This is a temple within the garden
The temple grounds
I guess this cat is guarding the offerings.
A path through the forest.
Approaching the Orchid house. Actually none of the orchids were in bloom so it was disappointing.
A trail out of the edible/medicinal plant section.
This was possibly the biggest tree I've ever seen. You can get a sense of the scale from Kristi in the corner.
Another temple wall
A statue in the temple.
What Chandi Kunning is most famous for is a water temple. Dave and I decided to go first at night to try to take some night photos.
The temple during the day -
This is a photo of the offerings that Hindus leave all over the place several times a day. They are literally everywhere in Bali and they're usually really beautiful (until they get trampled by tourists).
After Chandi Kuning we decided to head to the North Coast to see Lovina. We hired a private driver (who Kristi later unintentionally stole) to take us there along with a few stops on the way. Actually we're glad Kristi stole the first guy we hired because his friend seemed a little less pushy to me.
The first stop was a traditional coffee making place. This is where they grind the coffee.
hand ground
Unripe beans. I didn't buy any cause it was insanely expensive. I bet it was yummy though.
Next stop was a waterfall after a trek through the forest where the guide showed us various plants like clove, pineapple, vanilla, and a bunch of others I can't remember.
We also stopped at a rice field to see the views.
Finally we arrived in Lovina. Dave as feeling sick so I wandered around on my own a bit. I decided to just follow the beach outside my hotel until I got to a tourist area. This lead to an hour long trek through the back yards of fishermen. It was interesting but a bit uncomfortable. I also had to leap over a drainage ditch thing and I thought I was definitely going to fall in and be wet and embarrassed. But my leaping skills are better than anticipated. I made it to the tourist area! And I got extremely harassed by the vendors because it's low season and so there aren't any tourists. I ended up buying a sarong and pants that I didn't need at all. But I like them so whatever.
This is the statue of the Dolphin King in the main area in Lovina. It was kind of silly but when your whole economy is based on tourists coming to see dolphins, I guess it makes sense.
So of course we took a sunrise tour to see the dolphins. I negotiated a really good price to get us in a small boat where it was just us and the driver/captain guy. The woman actually called her husband and told him I was Indonesian to get us the good price. i was pretty proud of my negotiating skills on that one. Usually i suck at bargaining.
The boat ride was interesting. The sunrise was extremely beautiful. The dolphins were...well, we never got too close and they're tricky to photograph but that's ok, they seemed to be having fun. They were wild dolphins so I wasn't expecting Sea World.
After Lovina, Dave and I headed back to Ubud where Marisa and Ben were still hanging out. Marisa's Dad and sister just finishing up a visit so it was nice to meet them. They also had booked an extra night at their awesome plush hotel so we all crashed there and lived outside of our means for a night which was a nice change!
Dave, Ben and I took a walk through the mountains and rice paddies outside of Ubud.
It was beautiful.
We got to this bridge and jokingly told dave to cross it. And he did! and then he wouldn't come back. So of course, Ben and I had to cross it too. It was the scariest thing ever. Seriously, I was shaking when I was finished. I am scared of heights and I've been known to fall over on perfectly flat ground so the idea of crossing this thing was just....bad. Anyway I lived. I even crossed it again on the way back.
After the bridge we went up the other side of the valley and through this sort of intimidating trail. We tried to hire a car to take us back but it would have been ridiculously expensive because apparently that bridge is actually the only way to cross the bridge anywhere near by. So we backtracked. Ben and I decided to try to avoid a tricky part of the trail that had been washed out by a mudslide so we went into what appeared to be an abandoned hotel complex. Turns out it was abandoned cause the same mudslide took out the stairs that connected it to the rest of the hotel. We were thinking of turning back when a guy from the hotel heard us and lowered a ladder. It was pretty funny.
The next day Dave left Bali to head back to his job and Ben and I went to catch a Balinese dance show. Balinese dance is interesting because they have to use all parts of the body very specifically, down to fingers, eyeballs, and facial expressions.
