I think Bali is a candidate for the Garden of Eden. But much like that paradise, all is not well. Bali has become t oo popular for its own good. Australians in particular are coming in droves, especially as their currency is very strong right now.(when we visited Australia in 2000 an Aussie dollar cost 0.60 US. Today it's worth 1.05 US. The reason is commodities which Australia has in abundance and are in much demand in China.)
When people first began to talk about Bali, they raved about the beauty, but also the friendliness of the people. Both are under strain right now. The roads can't handle the traffic and some of the people have become greedy. There are still lovely people and places in Bali, but it might take a bit of looking.
We met up with our son, Steve at the airport. As I mentioned we probably planned to do to much. The plan was to spend 4 nights in Ubud, then go to Lombok for 3 nights. Lombok is being talked about as the "new Bali", but it has a way to go. I really did underestimate how big the island of Bali is and that the roads are such that it takes a long while to get places. The first day was just traveling and we had booked a car and driver for days 2 and 4, leaving us just one unprogrammed day in Ubud. Ubud is a Balinese version of Santa Fe- lots of art galleries, classy shops, and restaurants and we definitely would have liked more free time there. I relied on Indonesian friends for suggestions of what to see, and that was also not a good idea. We saw far too many temples-one or two is sufficient. We then changed the itinerary for day 4 with the driver for more of our own choices. But still we chose a traditional village, which was good but not worth the 3 hour round trip. We loved the place we stayed in Ubud. We had thatched roof rooms with no AC but ceiling fans. The complex trickles down the sides of a ravine to the river below. It was very lush and green and peaceful and we loved the insect and frog noises at night.
Bali is Hindu, with a bit of Buddhism thrown in. The degree to which religion pervades daily life is unusual. They create a lot of artistic offerings for the temples and the small daily offerings are everywhere. The driver always had one on his dashboard. They take a piece of banana leaf, fold the corners into a low, box shape, and artfully arrange flowers, fruit, and maybe a stick of incense. I think it is these offerings that make them such good artists. For, artists they are. They do all kinds of wood and stone carving, weaving and batik and other textiles, gold and silver work, as well as paintings. They also have a lot of traditional dances-we saw one and would have done more if we had time.
We then headed off to the island ofLombok, which, although being a short distance away, took a while to reach. Our First night was at an island off Lombok, called Gili Trawangen. We flew from Bali, then took a taxi to the port, then a horse cart to the ticket office for the boat, then the boat to the island, and another horse cart to the hotel. And most of these steps involved negotiations over price. And we had to wade ashore from the boat! Gili T., as it's known, turned out, after all this, to be a cross between key west and spring break. There were lots of bars and restaurants along the beach, each with their own(loud) music. Yes, you could sit at a restaurant at the waters edge with your feet in the sand, but all in all, not to my taste. Wild horses could not drag me back to Gili T. It's true that I had heard so much about the Gilis and how great they are that I would have gone sooner or later but I would rather not have wasted Steve's time. When it was time to leave we just paid for a private boat to pick us up from the beach in front of our hotel and drop us off at the next hotel in Lombok. Sometimes you just have to pay up.
That hotel was the sengiggi beach hotel and we all loved it. There were extensive and beautifully landscaped grounds. It was peaceful and relaxed and that was most welcome. The beach was nice although the water was so choppy it was hard to snorkel. Just outside the grounds was the "town" which had several restaurants and some shopping so we wandered into town both evenings for dinner.
We were lucky to get off Gili T when we did as the winds picked up the next day and many of the boats could not operate. January is the rainy season, but the wind was more problematic than the rain.
We drove back to the airport where we came home to Surabaya and Steve flew back to Bali to get his flight home. He spent two days in Hong Kong on the way over and one day there on the way back. He enjoyed HK very much. It was wonderful to spend time with him and hear all the news from home.
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