Christmas in Paradise
Gilis
After relaxing on the beach, we decided to walk around the entire island and explore. Most of the touristy hotels and restaurants are on the east side of the island, with the some laid back bungalows in the north. The west side is also mostly beach, but the beach is smaller and not as nice as the east. The center and south of the island have countless palm plantations, which I assume are for extracting palm oil (the most common oil in the world). On our journey around the island we came across a beach side restaurant offering a private sunset BBQ. This seemed like the closest thing to a Christmas dinner that we would find, so we made reservations.
After our stroll around the island, we headed back to the restaurant. We decided to take a shortcut through the middle of the island to save time. The map wasn't accurate, so our shortcut wound up being a detour because we got lost. But the middle of the island gives you a glimpse into what life is like for many of the locals, who despite the hoards of tourists remain impoverished. Many of them live in slum-like conditions with chickens roaming around their plots. Some were lucky enough to have a goat. While there are hints of a middle class, many of the people lived in homes like the one below.
As our detour passed by the homes of the locals, I felt guilty. The dirt paths we traversed went right up to some of their houses, and it was apparent that they did not have much. Despite their poverty though, the locals were some of the friendliest people out there. Many waved at us or shouted out English phrases that they had learned. If I were in their shoes, I might come to resent the hoards of tourists who come to my island to indulge. The people seemed very welcoming though and were surprised to see tourists near their homes (most visitors stay along the coast). The glimpse into what life was really like on the islands was truly fascinating.
After our brief detour, we arrived at the restaurant, which was more like a kitchen with seating on the beach. They had fired up a grill for us and quickly brought us our food and some sangria. The dinner included burger patties, potatoes, tuna steaks, chicken satay, and a few other dishes that I have since forgotten. We grilled the food ourselves and enjoyed our beach side Christmas dinner.
After spending our first two vacations in sightseeing mode, Antonio, Alexa, and I decided to switch gears for winter vacation. We decided that we wanted to spend some time beach bumming, and, after considering a few different options, landed on Bali. Bali is a small island in Indonesia known for beaches, parties, and surfers, but also temples and rice terraces. Our flight departed Christmas Eve Day.
Indonesia is like no other country I have visited so far. I'm sure there are parts of China that are comparable, but thus far I have only been to Beijing (and mostly the touristy part of Beijing at that). The airport was the smallest I have been to and featured Balinese Hindu architecture. After getting through customs, we booked an airport taxis to ensure that we would not be ripped off. The ride to our hotel was illuminating. We drove through Kuta, which is like a maze of concrete development (for the tourists) and shanties (for many of the locals). Traffic is terrible during certain hours, but mostly because there is no real planning that went into the construction of the small city. The most common form of transportation for the Balinese was a moped. Often, we spotted entire families on the mopeds or women driving with babies strapped to their backs.
After we dropped off our stuff at the hotel, we headed to the beach to catch the sunset. This proved to be a wise decision, as it was the only sunset we saw the whole trip. It was "rainy season" in Indonesia, which means that the late afternoon and evening is mostly overcast, and that there is usually 1-2 hours of rain a day. After snapping a few pictures, we headed off for Christmas Eve dinner at a Balinese restaurant. It was decorated with wreaths and small Christmas trees, and the waiters all wore Santa hats or reindeer ears. This looked extremely out of place and tacky, but it did not detract from the meal. We split satay, one of Indonesia's most famous dishes, for an appetizer. It consists of roasted chicken skewers covered and/or dipped in peanut sauce. I had a scrumptious pork dish for my main course. Indonesia is a Muslim country, but Bali is a Hindu island (for reasons I'll explain later), so pork is actually very common.
Indonesia is like no other country I have visited so far. I'm sure there are parts of China that are comparable, but thus far I have only been to Beijing (and mostly the touristy part of Beijing at that). The airport was the smallest I have been to and featured Balinese Hindu architecture. After getting through customs, we booked an airport taxis to ensure that we would not be ripped off. The ride to our hotel was illuminating. We drove through Kuta, which is like a maze of concrete development (for the tourists) and shanties (for many of the locals). Traffic is terrible during certain hours, but mostly because there is no real planning that went into the construction of the small city. The most common form of transportation for the Balinese was a moped. Often, we spotted entire families on the mopeds or women driving with babies strapped to their backs.
After we dropped off our stuff at the hotel, we headed to the beach to catch the sunset. This proved to be a wise decision, as it was the only sunset we saw the whole trip. It was "rainy season" in Indonesia, which means that the late afternoon and evening is mostly overcast, and that there is usually 1-2 hours of rain a day. After snapping a few pictures, we headed off for Christmas Eve dinner at a Balinese restaurant. It was decorated with wreaths and small Christmas trees, and the waiters all wore Santa hats or reindeer ears. This looked extremely out of place and tacky, but it did not detract from the meal. We split satay, one of Indonesia's most famous dishes, for an appetizer. It consists of roasted chicken skewers covered and/or dipped in peanut sauce. I had a scrumptious pork dish for my main course. Indonesia is a Muslim country, but Bali is a Hindu island (for reasons I'll explain later), so pork is actually very common.
We headed back to our hotel, relaxed for a while, then went to sleep. The next day we were off to the Gili Islands.
Gilis
The Gili Islands are three small islands off the coast of Lombok (the closest major island east of Bali). Gili means "island," so Gili Islands is redundant. The islands are known for pristine beaches, coral reefs, and a more laid back atmosphere than Bali. There are no cars or paved roads on any of the islands, so if you want to get around you have to flag down a pony and buggy driver. We stayed on Gili Trawangan, the largest and most populated of the three. When we arrived the skies were clear and sunny, the water blue, and the sand white. Our first day was the best day for beach bumming, as it was the only day where the rain was held off all day. We relaxed at the beach for a while, reading, sunbathing, and swimming in the warm water.
After relaxing on the beach, we decided to walk around the entire island and explore. Most of the touristy hotels and restaurants are on the east side of the island, with the some laid back bungalows in the north. The west side is also mostly beach, but the beach is smaller and not as nice as the east. The center and south of the island have countless palm plantations, which I assume are for extracting palm oil (the most common oil in the world). On our journey around the island we came across a beach side restaurant offering a private sunset BBQ. This seemed like the closest thing to a Christmas dinner that we would find, so we made reservations.
After our stroll around the island, we headed back to the restaurant. We decided to take a shortcut through the middle of the island to save time. The map wasn't accurate, so our shortcut wound up being a detour because we got lost. But the middle of the island gives you a glimpse into what life is like for many of the locals, who despite the hoards of tourists remain impoverished. Many of them live in slum-like conditions with chickens roaming around their plots. Some were lucky enough to have a goat. While there are hints of a middle class, many of the people lived in homes like the one below.
As our detour passed by the homes of the locals, I felt guilty. The dirt paths we traversed went right up to some of their houses, and it was apparent that they did not have much. Despite their poverty though, the locals were some of the friendliest people out there. Many waved at us or shouted out English phrases that they had learned. If I were in their shoes, I might come to resent the hoards of tourists who come to my island to indulge. The people seemed very welcoming though and were surprised to see tourists near their homes (most visitors stay along the coast). The glimpse into what life was really like on the islands was truly fascinating.After our brief detour, we arrived at the restaurant, which was more like a kitchen with seating on the beach. They had fired up a grill for us and quickly brought us our food and some sangria. The dinner included burger patties, potatoes, tuna steaks, chicken satay, and a few other dishes that I have since forgotten. We grilled the food ourselves and enjoyed our beach side Christmas dinner.
Snorkeling
The highlight of the trip to the Gilis was the snorkeling trip we took the day after our arrival. The rain held off for the morning and early afternoon, giving us a full day to enjoy the reefs and marine life. For a small price we were herded onto a glass bottom boat and packed shoulder to shoulder next to 25-30 fellow snorkelers. The crowded boat was another example of something that we fret about in the west but the developing world doesn't think twice about. They need the money, so they pack the boats like sardine cans without worrying about class action lawsuits. We "splurged" and bought a $30 waterproof disposable camera, but it was the best purchase of the entire trip. The pictures we took tell the story better than I could.
Antonio managed to see three turtles, but Alexa and I only saw one. Luckily, I hand the camera ready and captured it with a great shot.
After two more increasingly rainy days spent beach bumming, enjoying happy hours under pavilions during torrential downpours, and nursing stomachaches, we headed back to Bali. Now would be a good time to explain how we got from Bali to the Gilis and back. There were two options. A slow boat that took 8 hours, or a fast boat that took 2 hours. Each provided transportation from and to your hotel on Bali. We opted to pay a little more for the fast boat to save time. On the way there it was smooth sailing and sunny skies. The way back was another story. A storm had just passed and the waters were rough.
The ride began nicely enough, and I enjoyed one of the two complementary croissants that the boat service provided. Once we left the relatively calm waters surrounding the island, the waves started to get bigger. It started out like an amusement park ride. Antonio and I were laughing and having a grand ol' time. After about 15 minutes, however, it was like an amusement park ride that had been going for, well, 15 minutes. Then the waves started to get bigger and it was like an amusement park ride that you wished someone would turn off. The guy in the row next to me puked. I tried to fight it off for as long as I could, but with each wave my stomach dropped further. After opening the window didn't help, I muttered that I needed a bag to Alexa. She flagged down the staff, and I got one just in time. Alexa isn't comfortable on the open water, so after a few rough patches she was the first to put on her life vest. After several thuds which featured the boat smacking down on the water after hitting a big wave and one wave that went over the boat, most of us had joined her.
The ride began nicely enough, and I enjoyed one of the two complementary croissants that the boat service provided. Once we left the relatively calm waters surrounding the island, the waves started to get bigger. It started out like an amusement park ride. Antonio and I were laughing and having a grand ol' time. After about 15 minutes, however, it was like an amusement park ride that had been going for, well, 15 minutes. Then the waves started to get bigger and it was like an amusement park ride that you wished someone would turn off. The guy in the row next to me puked. I tried to fight it off for as long as I could, but with each wave my stomach dropped further. After opening the window didn't help, I muttered that I needed a bag to Alexa. She flagged down the staff, and I got one just in time. Alexa isn't comfortable on the open water, so after a few rough patches she was the first to put on her life vest. After several thuds which featured the boat smacking down on the water after hitting a big wave and one wave that went over the boat, most of us had joined her.
Bali
Most of our remaining four days in Bali were spent alternating between the pool and the beach at our resort (we found a guy on Craigslist who lives in one of the rooms and rents out the other at heavily discounted rates). There's not much to describe there, so I'll devote most of the remainder of this post to the one day we hired a driver to see some sights in the island's interior.
Falls
The first stop on our private tour was at Tegenungan Falls in the jungle. It's not the most famous waterfall on the island, but it fit nicely into our itinerary.
Monkey Forest
After a brief stop at the falls, we headed to Ubud, a small artsy village surrounded by a sea of rice paddies and jungle. The main attraction was the monkey forest, a jungle temple swarming with monkeys. The monkeys are viewed as scared at this site, and because they are not ever harmed, they are extremely friendly.
The stone paved path meanders around the temples and through some heavily-vined trees. The monkeys climb over anything and everything in sight. The monkey colony had everything you would expect from a human society: nurturing parents (one mother grabbed her baby's tail and refused to let it run off), violence and conflict (two monkeys fought over some food), and sex (one male monkey chased a female monkey, who clearly did not want to bear his offspring, until she tired and let him take care of business for about 10-15 seconds). Sidebar: apparently even ancient Hindus thought masturbation jokes were funny (see monkey statue below).
The monkeys are so used to tourists that they are completely fearless. Alexa tried to film one up close, so it climbed onto her knee and started to grab her camera.
After visiting the monkey forest we stopped briefly for a particularly scenic view of the rice terraces that the island is so famous for.
Mount Batur
Lunch was the next stop on the tour, and our guide took us to a restaurant that overlooked Mt. Batur, an active volcano. It must be a stop on all of the guided tours because they had prepared a buffet spread and (as we later found out) the prices were jacked up. The view stunning though.
After lunch we stopped in the nearby village of Batur to visit the temple there. Each village has its own temple (in fact, our guide informed us that each practicing Hindu is supposed to to have some sort of temple on his home), so you literally can't visit the island without seeing dozens of temples. As I previously mentioned, Indonesia is a Muslim country (After all, our terrorist Muslim President spent his youth studying at madrasas there). I asked our guide why Bali was able to maintain its Hindu heritage. He explained that the Muslims conquered the large island of Java (home to most of the country's population) and drove the Hindus to Bali where they remain to this day.Tanah Lot
The final stop on our tour was the most scenic temple on the island, Tanah Lot. This seaside cliff temple is the most iconic of any of Bali's temples. If you visit at low tide you can walk out to the temple, but we had heard it was more impressive to visit at high tide when the temple is an island amidst clashing waves.
New Year's Eve
After another day of beach bumming, it was time for New Year's Eve. We began the night at a restaurant famous for "Volcano Pizzas." It actually wasn't the only pizza I consumed during the trip. Wood oven pizzas are a specialty of the generator-reliant Gilis. The Volcano Pizza, however, was a different animal entirely. The double crusted pizza is pumped full of air as it bakes. Then, the waiter brings it to your table, pours a shot in the middle, and lights up the whole thing. After dinner we relaxed at our room for a while before heading back to Kuta (the concrete zoo from the first night). We ushered in the new year at a four story club, complete with dancers twirling fire rings.
The last day was uneventful, spent poolside finishing our vacation reading and getting ready to go to the airport. As many of you know, I am staying in Korea for one more year and have started to work at a new school. My next post will be about the transition, saying goodbye, and my new group of kids.
