Bali - 2012
February, 2012
We had always heard people rave about how wonderful Bali is, but somehow our travels never took us there. It’s out of the way, involves at least two flights and more than twenty hours of traveling from San Francisco.
In February 2012 we were planning a trip to Borneo, and while researching flights to Borneo (in Malaysia), we decided on Philippine Airways which had good fares and gave us an opportunity to see the Philippine Islands. We added a stopover in Singapore, and looking at a map saw that Bali wasn’t far, so we added that to our itinerary. Turned out Bali was the highlight of that trip.
On this first trip to Bali we only spent a week, but it was sufficient for us to fall in love with the place and the people, and decide we’d soon be making a return visit. In one week we learned a great a deal about Bali which made our second trip. later the same year, much easier.
Since we were visiting four different countries, Philippine Islands, Singapore, Malaysia (Borneo) and Indonesia, the flights were a bit complicated. From Sibu in Malaysia we flew to Kuala Lumpur and then on to Denpasar, Bali’s busy capital city. We spent our first two nights on Legian Beach, close to the airport, but it wasn’t a good choice because it was crowded with tourists, many from Australia.
Our original plan was to spend our last few days flying to Java and then driving to Jakarta, where we had booked a flight back to Singapore. That plan changed when we realized how much we liked Bali, and learned that the drive through Java was both long and dangerous. We read in a local newspaper about many bus accidents in Java, resulting from faulty brakes and steering. So we rented a car in Denpasar and explored Bali island including a trip to Ubud, in the mountains, where we stayed next to the monkey forest with monkeys swinging through the trees in our villa.
In our travels around the island we happened upon Candi Dasa, a small seaside town in eastern Bali, on the edge of a fresh water lagoon. We immediately liked the laid-back feel of the small town, found a hotel, and spent three nights there with side trips to other parts of the island. We decided that if and when we returned to Bali, Candi Dasa would be an ideal destination, so much better than the tourist-filled beaches on the other side of the island.
While Bali, sometimes referred to as “Island of the gods,” is an incredibly beautiful tropical paradise, we felt its main attraction was the people and their religion. Bali is a province of Indonesia with a population of a little over four million. Indonesia’s population is 265 million, the fourth largest in the world. While almost ninety percent of Indonesia’s population is Muslim, most Balinese observe and practice the Hindu religion, and it’s different than the form of Hinduism found in India.
Bali Hinduism incorporates local animism, ancestor worship and a reverence for Buddhist saints. The Balinese take their religion seriously, and it’s an integral part of their daily lives. Flowers and other daily gifts to their gods are found everywhere, and one must be careful not to trip over the daily offerings placed on stairs in hotels and restaurants. Every day there are numerous ceremonies across the island, and it’s fun driving and watching the parades, music, costumes and other festivities. It’s an ongoing show and the Balinese welcome tourists to observe and even sometimes participate.
We were sad to finally leave Bali and fly to Jakarta, where we boarded a flight for the long trip home via Singapore and Manila. We vowed we’d soon make a return visit.
December, 2012
In past years we made it a practice to take our family on vacations over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. When our kids, and then grandkids, were younger, we took them on cruises to Mexico and the Caribbean as well as more exotic locations like Fiji and the Dominican Republic. We decided we’d continue this tradition by taking everyone to our newly found paradise, Bali.
Moving a family of eight people from San Francisco to Bali, a journey by air taking about twenty-five hours, is not an easy task. Getting visas for Indonesia was simple, since we were able to get them at the airport upon arrival in Denpasar.
Travel arrangements were complicated since we were flying on three different airlines, Eva, China Air and Virgin America, leaving at different times. But we were all going through Taipei, and by some magic managed to all meet up in the Denpasar airport in Bali at about the same time.
While planning the trip, Misti looked online and found a fantastic villa - Villa Cocoa Maya, in Candi Dasa, fronting the sea. The online photos made the place look heavenly and, when we arrived and saw it, it was better than heavenly. The villa was on three levels, with two huge master suites and multiple bathrooms. It had an infinity pool which faced a small beach. Included were two Balinese housekeepers/cooks who became part of our family and introduced us to the wonderful Balinese cuisine.
Misti also arranged for a twelve passenger Mercedes van, with a driver. On our earlier Bali visit I drove a rented car around the island, but for this trip we thought it would work better for all of us to travel together and not worry about finding places and navigating the Bali traffic.
A word about the northeastern part of Bali, where we were staying. From Wikipedia: “It is widely accepted that Bali’s most beautiful scenes are in the northeast where black sand beaches meet vast rich flowing rice terraces and huge mountains decorated by luscious tropical forests. And, of course, the presence of the towering volcano.”
We were in Bali over the Christmas holiday, and felt a special Christmas dinner was in order. Our two housekeeper/cooks were up to the challenge. At the market we bought a whole roasted suckling pig, which one of the women carried back on her motor scooter. The pig was big, perhaps forty or more pounds. We only ate a small part and we gave them the rest to bring back to their village for a Christmas feast.
About half way into the trip, David was bitten by a mysterious insect which caused painful swelling in his leg. He Googled insects in Bali, and learned it was a Tomcat (Rove Beetle in English). It’s a feared and dangerous insect that carries a toxin more potent than cobra venom. After several phone calls to Kaiser in the US and other “insect authorities,” David finally had to go to a clinic in Denpasar that specialized in tropical diseases, to get a prescription drug to treat it. The prescription worked and David was fine.
With our car and driver, we traveled throughout the island, randomly encountering festivals, mainly weddings and funerals, complete with costumes, floats, bands and dancing. Balinese seem to be happy people, content with their lot in life and secure with their religious beliefs. The contrast between their carefree existence and the more restrictive Muslim culture is very stark.
The town of Ubud, located in the cool upland mountains, was a highlight of our visit. It’s a center for Balinese crafts, especially wood carvings, and at a higher altitude the temperature was a nice relief from the hot and humid coast. We feasted on Balinese bebek betutu, slow roasted, leaf-wrapped duck, a Balinese specialty that is delicious.
But the most fun was a visit to the Monkey Forest, a nature reserve and Hindu complex whose official name is the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary. At the entrance you can buy small bananas, and the idea is to feed them to the monkeys without them grabbing one away, or their stealing and running away with your camera or purse - which many do. They’re absolute mischievous rascals, but lovable and fun to watch as they go about their thievery. Ubud is also where Julia Roberts filmed the movie “Eat, Pray, Love” in 2009.
In our travels around the island, we came across stores selling Balinese stone statues: Buddha, Ganesh, turtles, warriors, etc., and decided we’d like to buy some and take them home. The larger ones were very heavy, but David worked with the store to pack and ship them at a reasonable cost. Most made it to California in one piece, but some suffered breakage and had to be mended.
Finally, a caveat about Bali. In recent years, Bali has been discovered big time and is a travel destination for people all over the world, but particularly Asia and especially Australia because they are so close. In many ways, Bali is not the expected tropical paradise it was years ago. Many of the popular beaches are overrun with tourists, cheap hotels, restaurants, trash-covered beaches and the insane traffic is intolerable.
But with proper planning and internet searches, it’s possible to avoid the tourist areas and discover and visit the more remote areas, which retain the mystery and charm of the “old” Bali.
Art Faibisch, 2013
