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The Indonesia section has three parts as you can see on the left side.
This was one of the first signs I saw in Bali, my welcome-to-Kuta moment for this renowned party spot. It was disorienting to see Kuta after so many years away. It is like Khao San Road in Bangkok, and that's not a compliment.
I walked all the way from the airport through Kuta to Legian, not a short distance. The only mollifying aspect of my disorienting first day was that I met up with Werner, a CouchSurfing friend I had seen in Brazil a year before.
This was my 4th time in Indonesia. I flew to Bali on a one way ticket, then my intention was to fly eastward to Flores, but my flight detective skills made me realize that it costs the same to fly to Timor and then fly to Flores. I did that then went to Sumbawa, then flew to Lombok, then back to Bali and Nusa Lembongan.
I thought of dipping into East Timor. I knew Graydon would give me hell for not going, but it didn't seem worth it due to uninteresting reasons.
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This is a typical cash register. In lieu of coins they give candies.
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Ever seen money exchange on the beach? Is the safe inside a seashell?
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Bali is a Hindu island. Hitler stole the swastika symbol and turned it upside down it to use for the Nazi symbol.
One can get quite an education on kentfoster.com...
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Do you think the owners of this guest house wonder why they don't have many German guests?
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Lotus pool
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Rice terraces above Ubud where I met the girls below
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Feeling all warm and fuzzy for finding the kids I took a photo of 20 years ago and presenting them with it, I took a photo of these two little girls selling postcards after school and then went to make a couple of prints to give to them. When I went back a few days later, there were about 10 other little girls selling postcards, but not the two I was looking for. When I showed the photo they squealed in delight and they sent me on a wild goose chase where we found the girl on the left. When she came out from her home to see what the ruckus was about, the look on her face when I showed the photo was something I will never forget. She held it with two hands close to her face, staring at it with an intensity that made it apparent that she had never seen a photo of herself before. She relaxed a little when I told her that she could keep it. I felt like I had given the best gift ever. Warm and fuzzy feelings all around!
I went off to explore the rice terraces on my motorbike ($3 a day to rent!), and when I passed through the village again, she saw me and sprinted out to the porch to enthusiastically wave. I am a little shaky on a motorbike; I could envision myself hurtling over the cliff and down the rice terraces as I waved back, but I waved anyway. It is a good way to die, I figure.
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This is a Nasi Padang restaurant with the customary stacked plates in the window. The food sits out all day. I forget why this isn't a problem.
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Will you look at this food? I gladly ate like this every day.
I was so fed up with the restaurants in central Ubud I sought this family street stall. Fish satay (skewered grilled fish chunks), lontong (compressed rice), otak-otak (minced fish steamed in a leaf with spices, coconut milk and whatever is laying around), and a little mishmash of fried tempeh and peanuts. This is about a dollar.
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Will you look at THIS food? You are looking at rice with singkong (the green vegetable that is the leaf of the cassava root), fish and tempeh gule in the same lusciously rich sauce, and a lightly breaded vegetable fritter.
This is about $1.50-$2.50.
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Motorcycle bakery
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There is a whole industry in these little offerings that are laid anywhere and everywhere all over Bali as part of their religious rituals. There is always little bits of food, which birds and cats and rats and ants all enjoy tremendously.
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"I coulda been a contender"
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I wish I had paid more attention to the Balinese calendar when I stayed at a guest house right across the street from a temple with a wedding going on. Waking up at 2am to the sounds of pigs getting slaughtered was more than a little startling.
There is an omission:
Most auspicious day to price-gouge tourists: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8.....
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"What? Some day isn't good enough for you?"
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I like the bottom of this sign: "We listening to your silent". I felt homesick for Japan. I kept my eyes open for "All your base are belong to us!"
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This is a typical $5-$8 room in Ubud, Bali, always in a nice courtyard, but I stayed in at least five different places in search of decent sleep. I had a problem with every place I stayed. In this case, look just over the side of the wall next to the door and...
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...garbage! Their attitude toward garbage is amazing. I'll never understand it. But this isn't why I couldn't sleep. If garbage in Indonesia was a reason, I would have permanent imsomnia.
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I stayed way too long in Ubud and therefore it was draining my affection for Bali. One is assailed incessantly by touts, overcharged with a smile, and flustered by the crumbling infrastructure--but every time I started to get down on Bali I would be surprised by something wonderful. This same guest house, one day I came home and a gamelan band was practicing. Another day these girls were learning traditional dances. I took a zillion photos, none of them adequately showing this girl's giant expressive eyes.
Ubud is the epicenter of Balinese arts and culture, which in turn attracts an auxiliary army of
healers, masseuses, yoga instructors, new age spas, organic restaurants and so on. I can't think of any other place in the developing world with the sheer size and scale of it.
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These "vehicles" are made almost entirely from woven rattan. There are roads leading away from Ubud for many, many kilometers that have nothing but artisan shops like this, one after the other. Pottery, carvings, weavings, crafts, woodwork, metalwork, furniture, and on and on. It is incredible to see, and good looking pieces, too, not schlock.
I have acquired a very low tolerance for all forms of public transport for the usual reasons (dangerous, slow, crowded, uncomfortable, dirty), so sometimes I hitchhike, which I did going home after I saw this.
I thought I had experienced just about everything hitchhiking, but in Bali there was something new. I stuck out my thumb and a family picked me up. I didn't realize it was a family until I got in the car. The man had just picked up his wife at the hospital with their newborn daughter. Only 2 days earlier she had given birth! Can you imagine that happening anywhere else in the world? They were on their way home to show the baby to the family for the first time and they stop to pick up a devastatingly handsome western hitchhiker! Incredible.
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This makes my blood boil. Women do ALL the heavy work in Bali. It has something to do with caste. So, if I was so outraged why didnt I go over and help? I had to go send an email to my mommy.
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$3 dorm beds in a guest house in Padang Bai on the east coast of Bali. A room costs about double. It looks appealing to be in the open air, but there's too much street noise.
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Black sand beach near Padang Bai
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This girl with her feet in the water tank is letting hundreds of little fish nibble at her. I forget the reason for this, but I was impressed by how many people paid about $10 for 10 minutes of this. I started a similar business but with piranhas, and people just complained and complained. Tourists...
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My hardware-rich friend, Eva. In case she passed too close to a powerful magnet it was my job to pull her away from it.
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The photos below are from nearby Nusa Lembongan.
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I love mangroves. There, I said it.
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This decorative style of outrigger boat used to be more common, sadly, but no one wanted to hear me rattle on about the good old days.
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There was a religious holiday--there always seems to be in Bali--so the streets had a festive feeling.
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