Back home in Seoul.  Took a redeye flight under a Bali full moon and landed in the middle of a Korean monsoon.  Welcome back to the real world I suppose.

Just a couple of final reflections on my Bali experience.  Some things really stand out, probably first among them was just how inexpensive it is to experience a taste of paradise.  We had a personal driver/tour guide that cost us 50,000 rupees per hour ($5 U.S.).  We stayed in nice hotels that cost $60 or less, including a full breakfast.  There were also many bargains to be found in the shopping arena.  I’m not much of a shopper myself, but the womenfolk bought a load of sarangs as gifts ($2.50 each after hard bargaining), gold jewelry and other items at a bargain basement prices.  I bought a stack of DVDs of American TV shows I had been coveting (Deadwood, The Office, South Park) at $1 each and with every purchase of 20, you get nine additional for free!  For the record, I don’t think these are bootlegs, the quality is 100% and the DVD’s have the studio images on them, something I’ve never seen on a bootleg.  Oh, and a carton of cigarettes could be found for $8 to $10.

Y’all have seen the pictures, so I don’t have to tell you just how beautiful and varied the magical land of Bali truly is.  From the beaches to the jungles to the mountains, it’s all outstanding.

I was also impressed by the kindness of the Balinese people that we met.  Although most would be considered poor by Western standards, they seem truly happy and content without the trappings of material wealth.  Everyone I encountered greeted me with a warm and sincere smile.  Even the street vendors were gracious when you rejected their entreaties to make a purchase, smiling and saying “ok, have a good day boss”. 

Although you could observe some poverty out in the countryside, Bali is surprisingly clean.  In the Philippines, I would often be saddend by the harsh reality of substandard living conditions and the desperation of the people I encountered.  I never felt that at all in Bali.

Commenter Dennis asked about Balinese women.  To be honest, I wasn’t paying that much attention.  We were staying in resort areas versus the entertainment districts, so other than wait staff and regular citizens walking the streets (generally in sarangs) there wasn’t much to see.  Most of the guests in the hotels were from Australia, India, and China.  I guess my observation would be that the women of Bali tend to be dark skinned (reminded me of Filipinas in that regard) full-lipped, and tend to be full figured.  That’s about all I can say about.

Anyway, Bali had been totally off my radar and I don’t know that I would have made the trip without the encouragement of Tom and Yuli.  I’m really glad I did and I expect that there will be more Bali in my future.  It is such a bargain compared to other tropical resort venues.  If anyone is planning a trip there, let me know and I will set you up with our driver Daewa.  You will be in good hands.

It’s the morning of my last day in the paradise that is Bali.  I’m up this early because I was awakened by what sounded like a viscious dog fight next door.  There was a full moon last night, so maybe they were werewolves.

Bad moon rising?

life’s a beach

a time to reflect

moonburst

moondance

Howlin’ at the moon

Anyway, I fly at 0040 in the morning on the redeye to Seoul.  I’ll post some thoughts on the trip then.

Friday we left the jungles of central Bali and moved to the coast for some beachside fun.

The last night in Ubud we celebrated Yuli’s birthday at her favorite restuarant, the Dirty Duck.

Where not surpisingly Fried Duck is the specialty.  I had seafood.

The obligatory birthday cake ceremony.

Ji Yeon did some souvenir shopping at a beachside stall.  That carving appears to be some kind of lewd act…

The entrance to our hotel, the Villa Kind Bintang Resort.  Rack rate here is $95, but Yuli’s friend Yoeman got us in for a sweet 50 bucks a night.

The lobby.  Open air as is typical of most buildings here.  Ah, life on the equator…

The view from my room.  You can kinda sorta see the ocean in the distance.

The pool, complete with bar.

Where I enjoyed my share of refreshing Bintang beer.

Yuli enjoying the water.  I think she is part fish.

Ji Yeon tried to adopt this little German girl without success…

The Indian Ocean.

The beach in front of our hotel complex.

On the 4th of July we dined beachside…

Ji Yeon, Tom and Yeoman’s son Yoda enjoying the ambiance…

Watching the sunset while waiting for dinner to be served.

We purchased some roasted corn from this vendor as an appetizer.  It was sweet and delicious…

Sundown.

Dinner is served.  A feast fit for a king…

Dinner for seven came to rupee 700,000.  Including several large Bintang beers, a coconut cocktail, and juice drinks.  Folks, that is $70.  Unbelievable.  And everything was delicious.

The island of Bali.  We are beaching on that small peninsula at the bottom.  Ubud and jungle environs are about 30 KMs north.  The volcanos at the top are where we took the road trip.

Sunday was watersports day.  I’m a keep my feet on the ground kind of guy, but Yuli enjoyed the parasailing experience.

The banana boat was more my speed.

Woo Hoo!

We survived, wet but happy.

I also had my first jet ski experience, which was really a blast.

Ok, back to my vacation.

Day 4 we hired a driver and went up into the mountains.  Volcanos to be exact…

On the way I saw flowers…

Hillside villages…

Bats. (biggest damn bat I ever did see)

An Islamic mosque…

Hindu shrines….

Worshipers arriving by boat…

Hindi poobahs…

Photographed a photographer (Yuli)…

And a picturesque pier…

A flowering tree…

And finally, a volcanic lake.

Next up, we move to the beach.  Stay tuned.

The second part of the Wednesday night show was a fire dance.  A variation of the walking on hot coals routine I guess.  Here you go:

A little kerosene and a match…

Makes for a nice bonfire….

Mama always said don’t horse around with fire…

He kicked the coals around the floor, then walked on them until his feet were black.  Pretty impressive. 

More to come….

Wednesday night we say an amazing performance of the Kecak dance.  I had never seen anything quite like it.  Well, the Whirling Dervishes in Instanbul were pretty awesome, but this was more theatre than religious ceremony.

The dance depicts a fragment of the Hindu epic Ramyana.  You can learn everything I know about it from Wikipedia.  Even though I couldn’t follow the story, it was an impressive and entertaining performance.  Here’s some photos:

The Hindu Temple where the performance took place.

Tradition is you where a flower in your hair here (at least they gave me one when we entered the temple.  I was feeling a little gay again.

So, it started with this guy lighting the flames on an alter…

And then 100 guys come out chanting, gyrating, and dancing in a fascinating display.

Then they sat down in a circle and provided the music through voice…

So, our first characters appear…

Those gals could dance!

There’s a story being told here.  Unfortnately, I can’t explain it.

I think this monkey dancer was one of the good guys…

Captured….

A battle ensues…

Justice and good ultimately prevail…

And I am out of time for now.  Later, the Fire Dance!

Sorry for the lack of trip upadates.  I’ve encountered some spotty internet service of late.  I had made pretty good progress on a post yesterday, when my computer just froze up, which cost me the entire thing.  Frustrating for me.  Oh well, I’m in a new location (this is day 6 of my trip).  But since I want to keep on sequence, what follows is my Day 3 Trip Report.

Ubud (oobood) has its origins as an artist’s community and that is probably still an apt description.  Many studios and shops selling wood carvings and other locally made creations.  It’s a bustling place, at least during daytime.  Many great restuarants to choose from, but from what I could see an almost non-existent bar scene.  Lots of foriegners wandering the streets, from the accents I said mostly Aussies and Japanese.

Anyway, on with the show:

Giving offerings to the Hindu gods.  This is a daily morning ritual I observed all over Bali; at temples, businesses and private homes.  And I have never witnessed a more apparently devout population–temples and shrines virtually everywhere you look.

The locals call this the Royal Palace so I will too.  Or at least it is the entrance to the Royal Palace grounds.

Another shrine.  Some are quite elaborate.

Mainstreet Ubud.  You may have noticed they drive on the right side of the road here.  I’m not driving (we hire drivers) but it still takes getting used to, especially as a pedestrian.  I’m doing better now, but I envisioned a tragic miscalculation and a tombstone reading “here lies John, he wasn’t too bright, he looked to the left but he should have looked right.”

An Ubud residential area.  Quite nice, don’t you think?

After traversing from end to the other on Main Street, I was ready for a little rest and liquid refreshment.  Many very nice looking places to choose from, but it was Nomad for me.  Of course, I thought of Frank, formerly The Lost Nomad of Korea.  His blog is a long time gone (ahem) but we are friends on facebook now, so it’s all good.

I have grown quite fond of Bintang, the local brew.  I camped at a street-side table, quaffed my beer, smoked, and watched the passerbys.  It was all good.

I guess it’s pretty easy to pick out the tourist in this shot.  It amazing to see just how much the Balinese can carry on their heads.  I saw one woman with a basket on her head riding a bicycle.  I guess it’s just a question of balance.

When in Bali do as the Balinese, as the saying goes.  The shoppers completed their expedition and joined me for lunch at Nomad.  They had me try on a sarang, and it was quite comfortable.  Although it made me feel a little gay (not that there’s anything wrong with it).

Yuli, Joeko, and Ji Yeon waiting for the shuttle back to the hotel after our day on the town in Ubud.

Lots more to come, but I’m going to publish this now before something happens and I lose it again.  C U soon!

Here’s the day 2 report from Bali…

Typical Balinese fare.  This was good…

Dining room in the hotel.  Pretty cool, eh?

There are statues and shrines like this all over the hotel property.  I assume this one has something to do with fertility…

Tom and Yuli purchased some property.  A fairly complicated process given that Tom is a foriegner.  The lawyers worked out all the deatails and the deed was done.  I still can’t resist puns…

Ye olde goldfish pond…

Another shot of the cottages in which I currently reside…

I think I mentioned the hotel is built into a jungle hillside…

And that little river at the bottom gurgles me to sleep each night…

One of the two pools on the property.  Had some excitement here.  Turns out Ji Yeon is not much of a swimmer and she didn’t realize how deep this water was until she was smack dab in the middle of the pool.  She went into a bit of panic and latched onto me, pulling me under as well.  Scared the hell out of me, because I’m not a strong enough swimmer to carry us both.  I gave her a mighty shove towards the side of the pool, but still out of her reach.  She went under again, but by now Yuli and Joeko were able to pull her the rest of the way to the side.  Definitely got my adreniline pumping…

It was definetly more relaxing laying flat on my back on the poolside lounge chair.  This was my view from that vantage point…

Later we went into town for a bite of lunch.  Don’t remember what this is called, but damn, it was spicy.  Made me sweat behind the ears spicy.  Luckily, I had a large bottle of Bintang, the local brew, to was it down…

Yuli, Tom, and Yuli’s brother Joeko were unfazed by spicy lunch and cleaned their plates.  I did not and took a fair amount of razzing about it…

We headed out to view Tom and Yuli’s new property and encountered a Hindu ceremony in progress…

Village street scene…

Tom’s new property…

Ji Yeon obviously preferred the rice paddy to the swimming pool….

Working the land.  Someday Tom’s house will overlook this area…

Tom was quick to make friends with the local neighborhood kids…

The street in front of Tom’s property…

A gateway I fancied…

Almost all the residences have a Hindu shrine on the property. 

Ok, time to get on with the vacation.  More to come.