Adventures in Bali

Adventures in a Developing Nation

Andy, Alvin and I took a short trip to Bali. We spent 4 days, 3 nights there. Boy, was it nice to be back in a developing nation, where you can get great meals for $3-5, everything requires negotiation, and lifestyles are incredibly different from my own in the States.

We got there Thursday around noon, checked in, and headed straight for the beach. We stayed in Kuta, and according to the Rough Guide, Kuta is one of the top ten beaches in SE Asia. (By the way, after using Lonely Planet in S.Africa and Australia, I've decided to go back to the Rough Guide. LP has better maps, but Rough Guide provides a lot of practical information that LP lacks, such as where the buses drop you off, and whether the mail system in a particular nation is reliable.) I was looking forward to visiting one of the top ten beaches of the region, but first had to survive the 15 minute walk. First, the heat beating down on us (which meant I was dripping with sweat from just standing in the sun). Second, people accosting us every 2 seconds to sell us something, and remaining persistent because they think me and Andy are Japanese. Maybe because we look like affluent Asians (associated with Japan) or maybe because we both have bleached hair. Who knows. But most treacherous of all -- the sidewalk. I was walking along, carefree, not paying much attention to my footsteps. Then Alvin commented on the high sidewalk -- it sits about a foot above the road. That caused me to notice the double panels that occured every 5 - 10 feet. These panels covered the sewer system, and didn't bother me. I noticed a crack between the panels, but that didn't bother me. Then I saw a set of panels with the panels caved in slightly. Still, not a problem. But then I saw one panel perpendicular to the other, leaving a gap on either side, and cracked down the middle. That's when I realized that the drop beneath the sidewalk was fairly deep, and I noticed the tiles around some of the panels were caved in. That's when I started to hop over all the panels. A tiring affair, since these panels occurred so frequently, and so many of these panels were cracked or misaligned. Hard work just getting to the beach.

Well, we walked around the beach a bit before heading back to the hotel. I was disappointed. It did not compare to Whitehaven in any way, but Andy commented that it must be a good surfing beach -- the waves were incredibly long and consistent. I must say, it's been a long time since I've been in a developing nation like this, and it took a bit of adjusting. We showered and headed downtown for a meal. We wandered around the downtown Kuta area before we were handed flyers with a cheap menu. We followed the flyer-hander-outer down a small alley and discovered a restaurant with an open wall, playing Vanilla Sky (pirated, I'm sure). We feasted on Chinese food. And I had a yummy Papaya drink. Yum, haven't had one since Peru. And I've been missing them since.

The next morning, we woke up late and collected our free breakfast. Indonesian breakfast, which was basically fried rice with a sunny-side up egg on top. They handed me a fork and spoon, and that reminded me of eating Filipino food in Daly City with all my old co-workers. We then headed for the beach.

Andy has been keen on surfing, ever since we stayed at a hostel in Coffs Harbor that provided free surf boards/boogey boards. So we negotiated to rent 1 long surf board (for Andy) and 2 boogey boards. And how much did we pay? About $6 for 90 minutes. For all three. And so the three of us, who have never boogey boarded or surf boarded, ventured out to the ocean. It was quite an adventure. I was wiped out several times by the waves, and found myself stuck underwater for several seconds. And a few times, the waves yanked my top down to expose my breasts, it seamed the waves were beating pretty ferociously. And don't worry, I was very conscious so always replaced it quickly, under water. I had no idea what I was doing, but Andy explained that I have to catch the wave at the precise right moment, just as it is breaking. And that when I do, it'll carry be almost to shore. There was a strong current pulling us farther out to sea, and so we spent a long time waiting for the right wave to come, but not realizing that we were out too far. I finally caught a wave successfully, and was laughing out of giddiness the whole way. It was a thrill! And once, Andy and I caught the same wave, and I watched as he attempted to stand on his surfboard. But he was too scared to surf the wave -- he just rode it to shore with me. And another time, I wasn't timed exactly right, so I caught a wave for about 10 seconds, and watched as this other dude successfully caught it and cut in front of me -- and made a goofy face at me. Show off.

Anyway, 90 minutes flew by. Exhausted, Alvin hauled us to McDonald's for his Coke. And Andy and I got ice cream cones for Rp 900, about 10 cents.

We headed back to the hotel, showered, and hopped in a cab out to Tanah Lot, a temple out at sea. It's known as a great sunset spot. It was about a 45 minute drive from Kuta. We got there to see all the little stalls selling tourist souvenirs, and I felt like I was in China again. We had to fend off all the merchants as we walked down to the temple, to be confronted with a huge crane sitting next to the temple. Hmmm, what an authentic cultural sight. Actually, as we got closer, we noticed that the rock around Tanah Lot had been comepletely washed away, and Alvin wondered aloud why the land under the temple hadn't been washed away. That's why the crane was there -- there were all these concrete blocks in front of the temple, and it looked like there was a jetty or bridge or something being built next to the temple.

Well, since only devotees could climb up to the temple, we climbed this rock outcrop about 150 yards from Tanah Lot and settled in to watch the sunset. It was mesmerizing to see the waves crashing against the rock. And Andy got excited about all the tide pools -- he is fascinated by sea life. All in all, it was a nice sunset. We headed back to Kuta for a Western meal of Pasta, and back to the hotel for the evening.

Saturday morning, we woke up fairly late, feeling exhausted from our battles against the waves the previous day. But, Andy had read about Besakih, the standard of temples in Bali, and so we decided to make the 2 hour trek to see this standard. We grabbed a cab, and paid $30 for the three of us to be shuttled around all day. Andy chatted with the cab driver while Alvin and I promptly fell asleep. Though I did hear snatches of the conversation, such as, 'My boss was a mafia, in narcotics!'. It made me happy for Andy to have this interaction -- I would have liked a conversation with the driver, but was too exhausted. I was reminded of the things that I savored so much about travelling in South America, but lost sight of in South Africa and Australia. In South America, I met Alexsandra, who said to me, 'What I remember about travelling, what sticks with me is the people I meet. I've forgotten a lot of the sights I've seen; it's the people that make my trip.' I knew she was right. So I stopped stressing about seeing everything, and instead spent time in the Plaza de Armas meeting local kids. That's what I enjoy. Talking to that restaurant owner in Cusco about why Peruvian girls marry young, drinking beer with the local prostitue in Nasca. Learning about life outside of my own, that is worlds away from my own. But in South Africa and Australia, somehow, it became about seeing as much as I could in the short amount of time alloted for each country. I felt disappointed with my experiences there. And Andy certainly had much to complain about during our time in Australia.

So we went to Besakih, where we were immediately accosted by 3 men before we even exited the cab.They handed us sarongs that we were required to rent in order to enter the temple grounds -- we had to cover our legs. Then, they attached themselves to us as we walked into the temple. I was wary at first, assuming they'd demand money, ignoring them and wishing they'd go away so I could enjoy the temple (which was HUGE, by the way). But they sensed my distance, and explained that foreigners are only allowed to enter the temple accompanied by a local. So I finally relented, and began to ask them questions, thinking that maybe they wouldn't demand money. Well . . . we walked through the temple, and at the end, of course, they demanded money. Now we barely had enough to pay the cab driver, especially since we had been stopped by a couple policemen along the way who demanded money from our driver. (Supposedly to buy water, but more realistically, because these corrupt cops saw the driver with tourists they believed were rich Japanese.) And so, these guides didn't just ask us for money. They demanded a specified sum. They asked us for $20 per person. In US dollars. Ridiculous. Incredibly ridiculous. We were probably spending about $20 per person per day. Way out of our backpacker's budget. And more than we even had with us. Not to mention in the Balinese economy, $20 is a fortune. So we handed them about $5, which they told us was ridiculous because it's only a few bucks, and there were three guides accompany three of us. They also told us that they only come once a week, and need the money. Okay, first of all, $5 may not be a lot in the US, but it's quite a lot in Bali. And they aren't in the US, they are in Bali. And second of all, maybe they only come to the temple once a week. But I assume they have regular jobs the other six days a week. They refused our money, and demanded at least $10 from us. I was pissed, because I've never encountered a situation where I wasn't told up front I had to pay, and then demanded a specified amount afterwards. I've had such volunteer guides who ask for donations, and get pissed when I don't give them a certain amount, but they've never refused and demanded more. I didn't want to give in, but Alvin told me to just give them $10, so we did. And that was that.

And then the taxi driver asked us how much we paid, and looked pissed off for us. He said he'd seen us negotiating with the guides, and had waved at Andy because he didn't want us to get ripped off like that.

After that, feeling pretty stingy, the driver stopped at a restaurant for us to eat. Buffet. We walked in, and they said, $6 per person. (Which is a lot for their economy.) Too rich for our blood, so we walked out, but not before they dropped the price to $3 per person in the matter of 30 seconds. But I was disgusted. It's been a while.

We then headed to the Monkey Forest Sanctuary, where Andy and I walked in to see all these monkeys being fed banans and yams by random tourists. I love watching monkeys -- they are so human-like in certain ways. We watched as two monkeys embraced. And another monkey as it was banging a coconut against the concrete floor to break it open. And another jump at Andy's water bottle in an effort to grab it from him. And yet another monkey that jumped on my camera bag, in search of food. There were signs saying that if a monkey jumped on us, we should put down our food and walk away slowly -- but I didn't have any food, and so I had this monkey crawling on me for a bit before the taxi driver managed to shoo it away.

Walked around a cultural village called Ubud before returning to the hotel for dinner. Andy and I were both dealing with a runny nose, and he had a slight headache while I had a slight tickle in my throat.

Woke up late this morning. Checked out. Ran next door in the hopes of purchasing a shirt. I had a fixed price in my head. Walked into the store, fingered a shirt. Was quoted about $35 for the shirt. I walked out, since Andy and I had to get to the airport. 'Give me price, give me price!' the guy yelled at me. '$5.' The guy dropped to $20. I kept walking. 'Give me second price!' I stuck by my $5. Dropped to $10. I was almost out the door, when he finally relented and gave it to me for $5. Which is still probably a fairly expensive price. I don't know. I didn't shop around, and didn't try for anything cheaper.

Alvin says it's the dyed hair -- everyone thinks I'm Japanese, and so they think I'm rich, and I'll be more willing to spend money than the average tourist. But what a significant difference -- this guy was willing to give it to me for $5, but tried for seven times that amount. So SE Asia will likely be tiring in a way different from Australia. My time here probably won't be so jam packed trying to get in all the sights. Rather, I'll be tired from beating off all these people who are trying to get their hands on a bit of my money . . . *sigh*