{"id":1642,"date":"2011-07-21T10:44:55","date_gmt":"2011-07-21T02:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mayl.id.au\/?page_id=1642"},"modified":"2017-08-17T21:36:06","modified_gmt":"2017-08-17T13:36:06","slug":"bali-pg-5","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/?page_id=1642","title":{"rendered":"Bali Pg 5"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our next stop, and not too much of a drive away was a traditional Balinese home and Moh told us that nobody knew how old it was but probably a couple of hundred years.\u00a0 It had been preserved by the government and was interesting to look around.\u00a0 Balinese homes were a group of small, separate rooms.\u00a0 And why not when you live in such tropically warm weather?\u00a0 As we entered the gate there was a small wall and we went to the right of it \u2018for blessings\u2019 and apparently you leave \u2018to the right\u2019 for the same reason \u2013 though we didn\u2019t, Moh went to the left!<\/p>\n

Each of the \u2018rooms\u2019 were small huts with thatched rooves made of dried grasses.\u00a0 Most were open sided but one was made of large sand coloured blocks for part of its walls and some woven substance that was either very thin wood slats or dried leaves.\u00a0 This was the kitchen, and inside was a fire burning in a large stone block setup.<\/p>\n

\"Traditional

Traditional Balinese Kitchen<\/p><\/div>\n

Other huts were for different purposes but for once Mrs I-Love-Facts wasn\u2019t listening properly and was absorbed in my camera.\u00a0 I did hear that one hut was for the family head who seemed to live fairly separately from the rest.\u00a0 There was a very deep well towards the back of the grouping which was only covered by a piece of board that Moh lifted up.\u00a0 I shone my little torch down there but it didn\u2019t shine on anything.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m presuming this \u2018room\u2019 was the bedroom because the whole thing has only a raised platform.\u00a0 I guess it could be a large dining table!?!<\/p>\n

\"Bedroom?\"

Bedroom?<\/p><\/div>\n

Not sure if you can see what\u2019s inside the door of this one.\u00a0 Guessing that\u2019s not traditional LOL\u00a0 I loved the roof garden though!!!<\/p>\n

\"Roof

Roof Garden<\/p><\/div>\n

There was also a lovely temple area.\u00a0 Moh told us that each extended family group has a temple and we had certainly seen a lot of these as we drove around.\u00a0 Many of the statues and structures in the temples, as well as some of the \u2018wise old trees\u2019 that we\u2019d passed along the roads had black and white checked fabric tied around them but Moh said that it was a special ceremony tomorrow so the cloths would all be changing to yellow.\u00a0 Sure enough we could see this happening as we drove around \u2013 beautiful sunny yellow everywhere.\u00a0 David asked if the black and white was for a celebration but apparently that was the everyday colour.<\/p>\n

All of these family temples were walled areas with very small roofed structures inside (not a good description, sorry!)\u00a0 You can see the gateway here behind (OK in front of LOL) David with the carved stone decorations on top.\u00a0 There is also a black and white check adorned creature on the right of the gateway.\u00a0 Check out the orchid on the left and the staghorn\/elkhorn around the tree trunk on the right!\u00a0 If you\u2019re very keen you can see the little thatched rooves above 2 yellow cloths above Moh\u2019s head, plus the larger roof behind the orchid was a part of the temple as well.\u00a0 All temples had step\/s up and then down as you went through the gateway.<\/p>\n

\"Family

Family Temple Entry<\/p><\/div>\n

After this we drove through several villages \u2013 I could almost never tell where one ended and the next began, it all seemed populated to me.\u00a0 But out here in what I\u2019ll call the suburbs, or at least the \u2018not city\u2019, it became obvious that each village had its craft speciality.\u00a0 We drove along roads lined with countless carved stone shops such as this one.\u00a0 Hundreds of them! \u00a0Well probably about 50, all overflowing with stock.\u00a0 We wondered who bought it all and Moh said mostly importers from other countries would come and buy a whole crate load.<\/p>\n

\"Statues

Statues for Sale<\/p><\/div>\n

There were villages who painted art, villages who made jewellery and villages who made clay roof tiles.\u00a0 It was so strange to see these \u2018shops\u2019 with a pile of tiles out the front for sale.\u00a0 To make an Australian home you\u2019d have to buy out the entire stock of several shops but they all looked as if they would go together nicely.\u00a0 All apparently cast from identical moulds.<\/p>\n

Soon we were driving through the streets of Ubud, which was definitely starting to look rather Western styled.\u00a0 Shops with glass windows rather than just open frontages lined this street and many tourists were walking along.\u00a0 Or climbing in some cases, as part of the road was quite steep!<\/p>\n

Moh drove through here \u2013 I must add that he was always telling us that he would happily stop anywhere if we wanted to! \u2013 but on the other side of the town he stopped to let us out at a palace.\u00a0 Outside the palace was an incredibly tall bamboo structure, probably about 3 or 4 floors high and not yet finished, and it seems that this was to be a traditional burial pyre for a royal family member who had died 2 months previously.\u00a0 Yes, 2 months!\u00a0 I\u2019m trying not to think about that in this moist climate!\u00a0 It would be carried by hundreds of people in a large ceremony.\u00a0 As it was, still being assembled, it was in the street and robbing visitors of a great many parking spots.\u00a0 Not that I\u2019m moaning, just observing.\u00a0 Moh dropped us off so that we could look at the palace while he went to see if he could park somewhere.<\/p>\n

The \u2018palace\u2019 obviously had other parts as all we actually saw was a large, paved, temple-style courtyard.\u00a0 There was one door in a wall that said no entry \u2013 or words to that effect \u2013 so we presume that lead somewhere more official and\/or living quarters.\u00a0 Where we stood had very little to keep us occupied but I did take some photos that I was very happy with. \u00a0One in particular.\u00a0 What a gorgeous wall.\u00a0 How much character has this got!!!\u00a0 The orange part above was the side of the wall that we couldn\u2019t go.<\/p>\n

\"Living

Living Wall<\/p><\/div>\n

Just as Moh came into the courtyard we were turning to leave so he went to get the car.\u00a0 We stood in the street until he came for us and once we were in the car he asked if we wanted lunch.\u00a0 He was offering Balinese or Western cuisines and David answered that he wanted to eat somewhere safe.\u00a0 I think Moh was a bit taken aback by this but had misunderstood \u2013 David only meant safe for our tummies! \u00a0I asked if there was anywhere that did vegetarian.\u00a0 He had to stop and think but basically made a U-turn and went back the few yards to where we\u2019d just come from.\u00a0 He then left the car in the middle of the street while he went into a restaurant to see if they had a free table for us and it seems they soon would so we got out of the car having done no more than cross the street from the palace tee hee!<\/p>\n

The restaurant was called Bumbu and served Indian.\u00a0 I don\u2019t quite know what to do about describing the restaurant to you.\u00a0 Uummmm.\u00a0 Well I guess all I can do is be truthful and tell it the way I saw it through my Western eyes.<\/p>\n

\"Bumbu

Bumbu Restaurant, Ubud<\/p><\/div>\n

Here\u2019s David seated at our table and we were on the entry corner of it.\u00a0 You can see how we\u2019d had to step up a kerb and then down into a wide gutter and then up a small step into the restaurant, which was actually a courtyard with a bit of a roof over it.\u00a0 Most of the restaurant was taken up with a cooking class which seemed a very poor use of potentially revenue-raising tables.\u00a0 They turned away several people while we ate and we were surprised the class hadn\u2019t been taught earlier or later to avoid lunch hour.\u00a0 There were only 4 or 5 small tables that people could sit and eat at.<\/p>\n

The menu was very good and varied and I chose pumpkin and ginger soup and also some potato skins.\u00a0 I think David got a curry but can\u2019t clearly remember.\u00a0 We also ordered a pear cider each and laughed when we got them to see that they\u2019d come from Perth!\u00a0 I suppose it was the placemats that made me laugh about the decor.\u00a0 As you can see they were bright pink and the pattern was done with an elaborate gold thread but they\u2019d been really roughly, and badly, hemmed!\u00a0 It would have looked much nicer without any placemats at all and it\u2019s not as if the wood of the tables needed protection.\u00a0 But the food was very nice.\u00a0 Very small portions, but delicious, and what more could you ask?<\/p>\n

We had seen quite a few ladies riding bikes side-saddle during our excursions but I finally managed to get a shot of one from the restaurant.\u00a0 I know the guy has his feet down but they were travelling, trust me.\u00a0 We\u2019d seen at least a dozen ladies riding this way on the back of bikes.\u00a0 Rather them than me, but I suppose if you\u2019re wearing a long tight skirt\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Side-Saddle\"

Side-Saddle<\/p><\/div>\n

After we\u2019d eaten, David asked if there was a loo and it was around in the back corner of the building that the kitchen was in the front of.\u00a0 Very basic, in a large otherwise empty room, and the hand basin was outside in the open air but it served the purpose and was sure nicer than the batik shop!\u00a0 It also asked for a donation in a box but not having any coins and having said \u2018keep the change\u2019 for the meal we sidled away without donating.\u00a0 Again Moh hung back and left us briefly at the kerb so perhaps was getting a little something for delivering us here too.\u00a0 He soon scuttled away to get the car though and we were on our way once more.\u00a0 I rather got the impression we\u2019d been too long and he was a little worried about the rest of the itinerary but he was certainly not forward about it.<\/p>\n

Left and right we went along roads that turned to miss paddy fields and there was one Western-sized 2-storey home in the middle of nowhere which was quite a surprise.\u00a0 A few roads were quite steep and then there was forest on the left of us and it seems this was the Monkey Forest but we declined stopping there.\u00a0 The tales of biting, scratching, rabid monkeys managed to dull the desire to any photos I might take.\u00a0 We\u2019d ignored all other tales of woe from our homeland but this one seemed worth listening to.<\/p>\n

The next drive was quite a long way but Moh told us that we would be going to Tanah Lot \u2013 an ancient temple.\u00a0 Perhaps now would be a good time to say that we had not told Moh what we wanted to see.\u00a0 He had told us on Wednesday that he could plan an itinerary for us so when he picked us up we just let him do what he\u2019d planned.\u00a0 There was an entry fee at Tanah Lot for the car and for once he turned to us to pay it which was fair enough.\u00a0 Then he talked about the temple and waved us towards a large ornate gateway and said he\u2019d be there when we got back and please only be about half an hour or we\u2019d miss the sunset at Kuta beach.\u00a0 We could have stayed here and seen the sunset but then we wouldn\u2019t be able to see Kuta, and we didn\u2019t know what we\u2019d be missing.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the top of the gateway into Tanah Lot.\u00a0 The only way to photograph the whole thing was to include some fat and ugly electricity wires so I\u2019ve stuck with the ornate view.<\/p>\n

\"Tanah

Tanah Lot Gateway<\/p><\/div>\n

We were rather confused as to what we were doing here and what we were supposed to see, never mind where we were supposed to go!\u00a0 Once through the gate we were stuck in some markets which is exactly what we do not thrive on in Barter Land.\u00a0 We walked down the centre trying not to glance left or right.\u00a0 There were many signs saying \u2018Toilets\u2019 with arrows down laneways between the stalls but we considered this a fund-raising venture and expected tin buckets with curtains around.\u00a0 There cannot have been that many toilets there \u2013 not even the floor squat kind!\u00a0 We were gently accosted by several stall-holders but none with any gusto other than a boy of about 8 walking around with some pencil-looking things in his hands that had some decorations on the top.\u00a0 The only word for him was miserable but I say that sadly.\u00a0 He begged us several times to buy but we continued to say no thank you.\u00a0 We both wish we\u2019d said yes or just given him some money but being good parents we\u2019ve always stuck with our no once we\u2019ve said it.\u00a0 This would have been a time not to do that in hind sight.\u00a0 Though thankfully he was not skin and bone or dressed in rags.\u00a0 He looked healthy.<\/p>\n

We kept walking and eventually came to a way out of the markets that was down a hill.\u00a0 There was a grassed area and a sign saying something about seeing a snake.\u00a0 Moh had said that we could see the black and white snake circling the temple but we hadn\u2019t known what he meant and with so little time we really couldn\u2019t go and look.\u00a0 As we continued down the hill we finally saw something hopeful.\u00a0 There was a large expanse of flat rocks just crawling with tourists and beyond that was a building on a higher part of rock that would have to be the temple.\u00a0 Whew!<\/p>\n

David was immediately accosted by a woman selling a whole bundle of photographic postcards for 20,000 but we told her \u201cLater\u201d and managed to convince her to let go.<\/p>\n

\"Tanah

Tanah Lot Temple (Behind the Trees!)<\/p><\/div>\n

The temple was a bit of a washout and I\u2019m not being funny that when the tide comes in it isolates it from the mainland!\u00a0 Far too many people were around and although I took some photos out of a sense of obligation most of them are just shots of strangers standing around.\u00a0 This is probably the best one and the temple is hidden behind the trees.\u00a0 Not something any worthwhile photographer wants to say ROFL<\/p>\n

The tide must come up a long way to isolate that, but we have the postcards to prove that it does because David did indeed buy them on the way back.\u00a0 We told her 15,000 was all we had \u2013 that\u2019s our pathetic way of bargaining, and she accepted.<\/p>\n

After this we turned left and came across a much prettier bit though there seemed quite a few people there also.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t have the time to go and look at it so I just took a photo.\u00a0 We climbed back up the hill but this time to the left to try to avoid the markets and were a bit worried we were getting lost for a while but not only did we manage to get back to the carpark but we found some fairly decent loos on the way as well.\u00a0 However, coming from the back like that we had caught Moh on the hop and he was nowhere to be found.\u00a0 Probably down at the temple getting his cut from the postcard seller and asking at every market stall in case we\u2019d made a purchase.\u00a0 Stop it.\u00a0 Naughty May!!!<\/p>\n

\"Tanah

Tanah Lot's 'Other Bit'<\/p><\/div>\n

Just as well we\u2019d found some toilets though.\u00a0 Kuta, a mere 22 kms away, took 2 hours to get to.\u00a0 On the 2 days that we went out on the roads we hardly drank anything because the toilets were nowhere to be found, it was dreadful.\u00a0 On one occasion David had asked Moh for a loo as we were driving and he\u2019d had to take all sorts of backstreets and taken about 15 minutes to find a garage!\u00a0 Not like home where you can use any shopping centre (which are 2 a penny), garage or takeaway food place.\u00a0 But I\u2019m side-tracked again.<\/p>\n

The main strip of Kuta was, to us, a nightmare.\u00a0 The cars and bikes moved so slowly down the narrow road that we truly could have walked faster.\u00a0 Here\u2019s the view from the back seat.\u00a0 If you love shopping and bartering then I can see Kuta\u2019s popularity but we don\u2019t enjoy either of those things so it just looked like big city congestion without the high-rise and a big waste of time.<\/p>\n

\"Kuta

Kuta Traffic<\/p><\/div>\n

Now here\u2019s how to load a motorbike!!!\u00a0 It was travelling, as best as traffic would allow, along the road.<\/p>\n

\"Motorbike

Motorbike Overload<\/p><\/div>\n

Finally we got through all the traffic and got a parking spot outside the walled beach.\u00a0 Even that was interesting in that it was angle parking but 2 cars deep!\u00a0 That meant Moh had to stay with the vehicle in case the car in front of him wanted to get out!<\/p>\n

He directed us to one of the few gateways in the wall so that we could go onto the beach in plenty of time for sunset and we dutifully went through.\u00a0 We also found out what happens when you make people enter a Balinese location through narrow doorways.\u00a0 They get pounced on by hawkers.\u00a0 \u201cYou want massage?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cYou buy dress?\u201d\u00a0 NOoooooooo!!!\u00a0 What we actually wanted was a nice clean bathroom and we headed towards a building that I had noticed from the car.\u00a0 Well, a roof over the wall anyway.\u00a0 I could smell it long before we were close enough to see it well so we decided that the Hard Rock Caf\u00e9 that we\u2019d seen from the car sounded like the best idea all day.<\/p>\n

We were the only people in there.\u00a0 I guess they mostly get an evening clientele, and they seemed incredulous that we only wanted coffee and not a meal.\u00a0 Truth was of course that we only wanted a loo and were buying coffee to be polite!\u00a0 We placed our order and then the manager came and sat at our table.\u00a0 David asked him where the loo was but I was then left to chat even after David had returned.\u00a0 Then David was rushing me with my very hot cuppa in case we missed the sunset that we didn\u2019t even want to see.\u00a0 We can watch the sun go down over the ocean any day of the week or year just 5 minutes\u2019 drive from our own front door.<\/p>\n

So back we went over the road, splatting off hawkers like you\u2019d swat flies back in Australia.\u00a0 The beach was absolutely heaving with people.\u00a0 Thousands of them in any and every direction.\u00a0 David said that the people coming out of the water all had muddy looking feet and to the left we had a close-up view of planes landing in the airport.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry but I dare any country to serve us up a better beach than we have in Perth.\u00a0 Moh wasn\u2019t to have known this when he planned what he did with us and we didn\u2019t have the heart to tell him when he said where he was going to take us; he was so sweet!\u00a0 Here\u2019s Kuta Beach to the left\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Kuta

Kuta Beach South<\/p><\/div>\n

And here\u2019s Kuta Beach to the right\u2026\u00a0 Far too populated.\u00a0 Wow!<\/p>\n

\"Kuta

Kuta Beach North<\/p><\/div>\n

And although we stood stock still for the whole 45 minutes we were down there (thanks David, I could have enjoyed my coffee instead of burning my tongue!) the hawkers came to us.\u00a0 One sneaky-looking character came up to us with the classic wooden box, slyly looked left and right before opening it up for us to see watches.\u00a0 Brand name, of course!\u00a0 ROFL.\u00a0 Took a bit of convincing we didn\u2019t want a Cartier watch for five bucks Australian but well, we just didn\u2019t!<\/p>\n

We were also offered ice creams and I actually wouldn\u2019t have minded one but our \u2018No\u2019 was so habit now that I said no to that too.\u00a0 The thing that totally stunned us was that we were several times offered to buy\u2026 arrows.\u00a0 I\u2019m talking bow and arrow-style arrows.\u00a0 What, by all that\u2019s sacred were we supposed to do with those?\u00a0 Take pot shots at other beach-dwellers?\u00a0 We are as bewildered by it now as we were then but it made me wonder if I should keep my head low I can tell you!<\/p>\n

And so, eventually, the sun began to sink behind a whopping great bank of clouds and this is about as good a picture as I took LOL\u00a0 Moh appeared as if by magic, as he always did, other than the Tanah Lot episode.<\/p>\n

\"Kuta

Kuta Beach Sunset<\/p><\/div>\n

And home we went to Club Med with all good wishes to Moh for his future and from him to us.\u00a0 He urged us to share his number with any family or friends who are going over which is why I put his phone number on here on an earlier page.<\/p>\n

After our very small lunch, dinner was most welcome but David took the mickey of the tasteless desserts something shocking saying \u201cThis one tastes like a bucket-of-water\u201d.\u00a0 \u201cAaaannd this one tastes like a bucket of soapy water!\u201d\u00a0 And of course I was laughing myself stupid and encouraging him.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m very cross that I\u2019d decided I was all photo\u2019ed out and had left my camera in the room because the show afterwards was a gamelan orchestra, which I really adore, and some traditional Balinese dancers.\u00a0 It was a wonderful show and the dancers were fantastic. \u00a0I spent part of it wondering what kind of bribery I could use on David to persuade him to run back for my camera.\u00a0 I\u2019d had a bad knee which had prevented us doing a great many things during the holiday so I honestly could not run and get it myself.\u00a0 But I kept quiet so I have no pics to share as my price for being such a kind and loving wife \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

After this was a \u2018fire show\u2019 by the pool.\u00a0 I have to say that I did not see much of it because the after-dinner snack in the bar was pancakes and after the taste-free desserts I sure did want one.\u00a0 This time I did ask David if he\u2019d get one for me and for once in my life he wouldn\u2019t so I had to queue up myself.\u00a0 Had the woman in front of me not wanted 6 pancakes on 6 plates I\u2019d have got to see the fire show but David said it was not much cop anyway.\u00a0 We\u2019d seen way better in Hawaii and in Singapore.\u00a0 It was fire as in fire-eating and fire-twirling and only lasted about 10 minutes or so.<\/p>\n

And that was that for another day and our bed was calling.<\/p>\n

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Our next stop, and not too much of a drive away was a traditional Balinese home and Moh told us that nobody knew how old it was but probably a couple of hundred years.\u00a0 It had been preserved by the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1633,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1642","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1642"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3915,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1642\/revisions\/3915"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}