Sidemen: Rhapsody in Green

May 7, 2018

One of the places we went diving was a site just out from the Padang Bai beach, so we got back in much earlier than other days. We decided it was the perfect opportunity to explore a little farther from town, our destination was Sidemen (see-da-min)

We found a taxi driver on the street outside the hotel, and he turned out to be a wonderful guide.

Made suggested we stop first at a farm along the way. What could have been a hustle was actually a neat little tour with a bunch of different teas and coffees to try.

The full panoply of tea and coffee options

We saw fresh lemongrass, vanilla plants, dragonfruit, and ginger plants.

Vanilla plant

Dragonfruit

Ginger. Who knew?

There was also a giant swing

And a bat that liked eating papaya.

He completely stuffed his cheeks

After making a couple tea purchases, we continued on our way to Sidemen.

Made stopped several times along the way for us to hop out and get some pictures, since the views were amazing.

Rice terrace selfie

Once we arrived in Sidemen, he parked the car and we walked along the road enjoying the views.

I love these pine tree type trees, they have the coolest silhouette 

Not only rice terraces, we walked past corn too

And chili peppers 

There was a pretty water lilly pond just hanging out in the middle of a field 

Everything is incredibly green.

With this road what could we do but yoga

Downward dog for the win

We headed home before it got dark, and caught the sunset over the rice terraces. Again, Made was wonderfully accommodating, but my camera doesn't capture the colors very well.

And to put a cherry on top of the day, we stopped at Pura Goa Lawah on the way back, a bat temple.

We arrived just in time to watch thousands of bats pour out of the mouth of the cave.

Maybe you can see them all hanging on the bottom of the cave roof. Maybe not.

Nighttime photos of flying things don't usually work well, but all the blurs in the sky are bats

It was a fantastic end to a great day.

First days in Padang Bai

 May 5-8, 2018

Our first full day in Bali was a travel day to get to Padang Bai, where our dive resort is. We first found breakfast in Kuta, then had the morning to wander.

The alleyway our hotel was on. Looks like it should be a walking path, but we often had to flatten ourselves against the wall to let motorbikes past.

We wandered some shopping streets and found the beach in the daylight

Packed our bags, found lunch, and headed to the shuttle bus place to check in.

It was a hot slow ride to get to Padang Bai, mostly because we went by way of Ubud in order to drop some other passengers off. Ubud is more in the center of the island, so it definitely wasn't on the way. Still, it was fun to watch the world go by, and the bus wasn't full so we had plenty of space. Traffic was awful basically the whole way, normal for them is kinda like leaving Gasworks after the Fourth of July for us.

Rice terraces along the side of my the road

We had some good views of Mt Agung along the way. Luckily it's quiet right now, though it's still an active volcano.

Intersections commonly have a statue in the middle. Some of them are quite elaborate

We finally arrived in Padang Bai, and got checked in to our two room suite.

It worked out to be more cost effective to get a mega-room than to get two basic rooms, so we get to feel extravagant for a week.

Since our first day we've had 4 days of diving (at time of writing). There will be a longer post later with more photos, but so far highlights have included manta rays the first day, some giant cuttlefish and my first octopus, a giant puffer, lots of little beautiful fish, a stingray, a wreck, and beautiful views off the back of the boat.

Big sea flap-flaps. Probably 10 foot wingspans

In the Liberty wreck

There's a big ol' cuttlefish in this photo. Extra points for finding him despite his A+ camouflage 

Our daily schedule is to do two dives in the morning, and depending on how far away we have to go for them, we get back early or late afternoon to the resort. Wash out and hang our gear, have lunch, and then the rest of the day is ours.

A view of the harbor and beach from up on the hill next to it

We've wandered all over town, visited some beaches, day tripped to see rice terraces, and had an organic farm tour.

Teaser photo for more to come

Stay tuned for more posts with the details and more pictures!

Day 1: Taipei and the Temple by the Sea

May 3, 2018
Our first day on our Bali adventure has come to a close, and it was pretty successful.

First thing first, we had to get off the North American continent, which meant boarding a plane at 1:30 in the morning and flying across the Pacific for 12 hours. The flight wasn't bad all told. Basically no turbulence the whole way, and some very legit airplane food.

The tray was filled with dishes, we got a hot roll with butter for each meal, real metal silverware, a hot entree, some sort of salad appetizer, and a delicious dessert.

They also came around with hot tea, and real slices of lemon to grab with little tongs. I was impressed.

I think I racked up about 7 hours of sleep, which was about what I was aiming for. A couple bathroom breaks and a movie later and we were landing in Taipei. 

A slight delay at takeoff and a headwind during the flight meant we ate into our 5 hour layover so we ended up with not quite enough time to leave the airport and see the fishing harbor we wanted to, but the airport itself turned out to be pretty interesting.

If you must suspend something from the ceiling, nothing better than oranges and tomatoes.

Hot air balloons in one of the food courts

There were themed waiting areas sprinkled through the concourses, including Hello Kitty, which is the one I had heard about beforehand.

It was really adorable. Everything was pink, as it should be. There was some sort of Hello Kitty music playing too, which made me really glad I didn't actually have to wait at the gate.

Miss Kitty is now a very stylish pilot

Of course I had to get a selfie with Miss Kitty.

Other gate themes included:
An E-library gate. All around the gate name were circuit board parts which I thought was pretty cool.

A cultural gate with fun things suspended from the ceiling.

A food themed one with sitting cushions that were steam baskets of dumplings.

And my favorite, a post office themed one

They had a mascot of course, and a display with the history of the post in Taiwan. There were some old postal carrier bicycles, old mailboxes, and the ceiling lights were part of a paper airplane trail.

There seems to be a movement in Taiwan to raise awareness about the black bears, what appears to be part of a conservation effort to me. There were signs and displays about it, and bears have been cartooned into spokes bear figures. In one such area this happened:

We had a 5 hour hop from Taipei to Bali, which included more food and a nap. A taxi from the airport got us to our hotel through the nutso traffic and throng of motorbikes. We then had a quick turnaround to put on shorts, find a taxi, and drive south as fast as we could to try to catch sunset at Ulu Watu temple.

We knew we were going to be cutting it close on time, and unfortunately there was a broken down bus in the road causing delays, so we saw the best part of the sunset from the car instead of the temple.

When we arrived at Pura Ulu Watu there was just a little color left in the sky. Still worth it. Ulu Watu is set on the edge of shear cliffs, which even in fading light made for some spectacular views.

We also found our first of what will undoubtedly be many monkeys. These ones were incredibly fat, I'm sure from ill-gotten gains from the tourist population.

Once we made it back to the hotel through the traffic, we found some dinner, Keith (Shay's dad) headed for bed, and Shay and I walked the 4 blocks to the beach. I didn't want to end the day before getting my feet wet in Bali. Once that was completed, I was more than happy to pour myself into bed and call it good.

More days and more adventures lie ahead of us, but we fit a good amount into day 1.

Five reasons I'm excited about going to Bali

The time has come, yet again, for me to pack my passport and two weeks of clothes into my trusty travel backpack, and fly off to a foreign country. This time my destination is the small Indonesian island of Bali, which is just up from the NW corner of Australia.

My travel buddy Shay (see a sampling of our previous adventures by clicking here, here, and here) and her dad planned to go on a scuba diving trip, and invited me to come along! We have 6 days of diving booked and 5 days of exploring other cities. We're going during high season for manta rays, so we're all hoping to get to swim with some of them.

So to kick off this round of blog posts, here's 5 reasons why I'm super excited for this trip despite the 22 hour plane ride to get there:

1. This is going to be my first trip outside of the Americas.

I've done a lot of traveling, but so far it's been exclusively in Latin American countries, which have a very defined kind of culture. Going to Southeast Asia is going to be very different for me, and I'm quite sure I don't really understand how different it will be. I'm looking forward to discovering new cultural quirks and comparing what's different or the same. 

2. I get to take a new language for a test drive

When I first booked the trip, I was telling people that it would be my first time going to a country where I didn't speak the language. Then I discovered free Indonesian audio lessons online, and after six months of practicing I can't really say that in all honesty anymore. However, I have not yet tested my conversation skills with an actual person, so I have no idea how it will hold up against reality. Hopefully I'll be at least a little bit useful to our group with ordering food, getting directions, and buying things, but I really don't know what to expect.

3. Balinese food

Lots of people have said it's delicious. I don't think I've ever tried Indonesian food before in my life, so I'm excited to try it, and hopefully find some new favorite flavors. I'm slightly apprehensive also, because it's supposed to be pretty spicy, and my level of spice tolerance falls well below 'wimp'. But, the aforementioned Indonesian lessons have already taught me how to ask that the food not be too spicy, so maybe I'll do okay.

4. Indonesia is where batik fabrics come from

Batik (ba-teek) fabrics are a printed/dyed style of fabric that my family has used for years in quilts and other sewing projects. (examples here) I've only ever seen the kind that comes from US fabric stores, and I'm really hoping to find some authentic, beautiful fabric to bring home. I also want to take a batik making class, which according to the guidebooks are very easy to find.

5. The views look amazing

I know that everywhere we go isn't going to be like the travel blog/instagram photos you find online, but the potential is there! With all the beaches, waterfalls, rice paddies, and temples to explore we're bound to find pretty backdrops in at least some of them. 

Bonus Reason: Taipei

We have a 5 hour layover in Taipei on the flight there, and as long as we haven't had flight delays, Shay and I fully intend to leave the airport. It's not long enough to go into Taipei city, but there's a fish market and harbor right next to the airport. Google is undecided if it will actually be open yet (our layover is 5-10am) but even if it's not, there's a small beach, pretty bridge, and lots of boats to look at. Plus massive potential for a crazy adventure, since neither of us speak any Mandarin and don't intend to learn any before our layover. Hopefully we can find a taxi driver who speaks English and is willing to drive us around for two hours.

So there you have it, my first blog post for Bali. It sounds like wi-fi should be fairly consistant at our hotels, so I plan on posting more photos and stories during the trip. And fear not, we are taking under water cameras so if we find mantas we'll have proof!

As as per ususal, every blog needs at least one photo.

This is the temple I'm most excited about visiting: Pura Lempuyang. I know better than to pin all my hopes and dreams on a perfectly clear view, but I'm still crossing my fingers.