6/19

A pretty uneventful ride along the northern seaside took us to the touristy town of Lovina. Here, we shopped, ate at seaside restaurants, swam in the lovely pool and Judee even had a pool-side massage ($5US). After a couple of nights in paradise ($17 p/n) we moved west for about 7 miles and then headed south and up, back into the heart of Bali’s volcanoes. We peddled constantly up, around steep switch backs. After another 12m of climbing we stopped for the day at Mundok, a village perched on a spine with generous views over the two narrow valleys planted with rice and other garden vegetables. The owner of the guest house we selected told us this is where Back Roads stay when they tour cyclists. We figured we had chosen our route well. We walked a bit in the evening down along some of the village paths, enjoying the cool breezes and magnificent vistas.

Our next day as we loaded Bici, our hosts told us if we had trouble with the hill to come back down and they would help us. “Hey, we’re tough. We made it this far. It couldn’t get any steeper.” It was soooo steep, we pushed Bici 4-5 miles!! We were able to peddle perhaps 2 miles during the entire uphill. If only we had known we would have taken the ride. Here we passed hillside fields of Hydrangeas, the blossoms harvested for the daily offerings made at every temple, home and shop door all over the island. We saw cloves being harvested and dried along the side of the road and could smell the lovely pungent odor rise from inside compound walls. The Dutch planted spices here during the 1700 and 1800”s that are still harvested today: vanilla, cinnamon, saffron, cloves, nutmeg, white pepper, coffee, and more. Many of these we saw growing as we laboriously climbed to the rim of the ancient, inactive volcano.

1. Spices drying at the roadside, cloves, cinammon, nutmeg, vinalla 2.Bamboo ladder used to collect cloves, for use in clove cigirettes 3. Mountain village

 

At the rim’s edge we peered down into two crater lakes with a glimpse of the third crater lake further north: our destination for today. The seaside of the volcano’s rim was clocked in clouds, so we felt as if we were on the edge of nowhere. With a steep and quick descent into the crater, we zoomed past tourist vans disgorging people photographing monkeys in the trees and on the sides of the road. We were not able to stop! Downward we raced, past strawberry farms, lettuce, beans, cucumber, broccoli, carrots, cabbage and onions as we made our way around the third lake and settled in at Candikuning. We wandered through the market selling all of the local produce plus tourists stuff. This place is a local Balinese tourist destination, especially the Botanical Garden where 50 bus loads of children were enjoying the grassy grounds. Here, too, was an aerial obstacle course with tight ropes, swinging stirrups, climbing trees, free-falls, and several flying foxes (or zip lines). To complete this course would take the nerves of steel and a multi-multi million dollar insurance policy to operate in the US! We watched fascinated for half and hour. The young people were skillful and daring.

4. Mundok sunset 5. Bungalow in Mundok 6. Crater Lakes

 

Unlike yesterday’s clouds and rain, today is sunny, though there is a haze – always from the burning of the rubbish and rice fields combined with the general humid air here on the wet side. We fly down the mountain, almost too fast to see anything or to stop to see details. We pass a cremation ceremony and stop to take photos. Color everywhere.

Bici is suffering from a few problems: the head set is loose, again and his brakes screech all the way downhill.

6-20

We are back in Gusti’s Guest House once again in Ubud and sitting on our porch as a light misting rain settles on the lush green jungle just down our steps. It seems like a good time to wax poetic or pontificate and pearl roll. Ever since my under graduate and graduate school days I (Art) have felt strongly that life is a series of choices: that our paths are not predestined or fated. We have free will to choose where we are going; to set our sails with goals or maybe only wishes; we gather the tools of education and experience along the way. We try, we fail, we learn and move on. We constantly check our sails, our lines, motor, radio, etc, constantly fine tuning and always making new choices as the environment around us changes. I am well aware that one cannot just wish or choose to be President or as gifted an athlete as Michael Jordon or Lance Armstrong. We must all work with the raw materials we are born with. But without choice, how would we ever push out to our possible – go beyond our self imposed limitations?

“Life is choices, not fated paths.” Ridley Pearson – Beyond Recognition

1. Hydrangeas ready for market 2. Local produce 3. We were invited to stay and share this pig....

4. Cremation float 5. Preparing temple offerings 6. Custom bike builder

 

6-21

The mist was fairly light as we left Ubud this morning, riding east toward the coast and the port of Podangbai. It was a gentle ride with no major up hills through villages, rice and vegetable fields. We boarded the noon ferry for the four hour trip to Lombok, another small Indonesian Island east of Bali.

1.childrens greeting 2.& 3.artists preparing applique for pots

4.Firing pots on the street 5. Lots and lots of pony carts 6.On the beach in Lombok

 

6-22

Last night our ferry arrived in port around 5:30, but we didn’t dock until about 6:30 as there was only one pier in use and we had to wait our turn. Then each truck had to back out one by one instead of driving out the front of the ferry!? By the time we were all unloaded it was long after dark. A young German who spoke Indonesian went to see if he could barter a truck to take us the 20km to Mataram because he said there were no accommodations near the port. Our Lonely Planet Guidebook said there was one, but we were told “No more. Closed.” We wangled a ride, bartered a fair price ($15US) to be taken to our chosen accommodation. Two of the places we chose were also closed and many restaurants, too! We are not sure what is happening here.

After dinner at McD’s in the mall and a good night’s sleep we were ready to see Lombok. With Bici unloaded, we wandered out of town among scooters, motor bikes, trucks, vans, pony drawn carts and other bicycles onto side roads and through small, friendly villages. The rice fields were luxuriant. We wandered up to Suranadi to see the “holist temple on Lombok” due to the clear springs that provided fresh water to the village and beyond. We found it to be so much more simple than the temples on Bali, but revered many Hindu Gods along with Balinese spirits and gods.

A gentleman, speaking lovely English, approached and after visiting a bit, asked us over to his sister’s warung. It was a smooth sale, the food good and very reasonable ($3.50US for both of us and cokes). After a walk among the family’s spring fed fish ponds, we headed off the roam some more. We were feeling very comfortable, despite the fact we realized our Swiss Army knife had been stolen last night during the ferry transfer. One of the many, many helpers obviously needed it more than us. The day is lovely. The scenery just unfolds: rice field, spice trees, bananas, all fed by coursing aqueducts, many filled with villagers taking their daily baths as the mosques began to call for noon prayer, we saw more and more people bathing and preparing themselves for prayer. We would love to have photographed the gleeful, brown, naked children frolicking in the water by the road, but didn’t want to invade their privacy. There was a mosque in most every village we passed with blaring loud speakers and many worshippers dressed in bright and beautiful sarongs carrying prayer rugs. There was always a lot of interest in us and Bici, many hellos, waving and much shouting with laughing children running after us and giggling. We got lost on a side road that proved to be a ceramic making center. The end product was decorated with weaving or netting materials, sand or egg shell appliqués, and paint. We saw the village that gathered the clay, where they made the vessel and fired them. We saw a different village further up the street here the final decorations were applied. There were also special shops selling the unique finished products. Too bad it is so expensive to send things from Indonesia, especially something heavy and fragile like pottery. I would love to have purchased something.

We did get lost – just a little, on our way back into town and had to double back some. But, all in all, Lombok is less touristy, a little less populated and even more laid back than Bali.

6-23

We visited the cultural museum in Mataram, bought Judee a new bike computer at the mall, and stopped at a Chinese cemetery on the way north toward Senggigi, a major tourist area on Lombok. We have been encountering empty hotels, hungry vendors with no clientele. Senggigi is no exceptions: large complexes abandoned, boarded shut shops, several transport companies out of business. Our destination is the last set of bungalows north of town, about 3 to 4 miles. We hope it is still in operation. It is! Complete with outdoor hot water bathrooms (which we love - the smell is fresher and the humidity stays out of the air con room), a pair of comfy chairs on the little porch out front, a nice pool and we are the only ones here for $20US p/n.

1. Bali 2. Loading Bici 3. Wind in the Gillies

4.Ferry from Lombok 5.Room at the New Moon Hotel 6.Street stalls of Kuta

 

6-24

Today we took a snorkel tour to the three Gili Islands: Trawangon, Meno and Air. These are little palm covered sand spits, rising from coal reefs just off the north end of Lombok. We finally found the tourists: hordes of them – all between 20 to 30 years old, mostly male. These are the party islands serving drinks and fun!

The snorkeling was different. None of our equipment was 100% operational, the wind was gale-like and the current was so strong we could not swim back to a site once we passed it! This was drift diving one fast. Where was the pause button? The clarity was crystal, amazing due to the wind and current conditions, but the coral was ravaged. The fishermen use to practice dynamite fishing, plus many careless anchors on top of El Nino heating the water and bleaching the coral that was still alive, created a dead-littered sea floor. Now the area is under protection and in the last few years new corals have been planted and it is surprising how quickly they grow. We saw blues, vivid greens, purple and pinks among the beige and orangey colors of the bleached and damaged corals. Many, many exotically painted fish fed in these waters – MANY! We did see algae making its way into one area. We are not sure how the tourist populations with their demands on water and sewer will eventually affect the efforts made at replanting the once expansive coral beds. The dead coral washed up on shore in banks. What a dilemma these developing countries have. As tourists, we find ourselves wondering how we can lessen our impact on the ecology.

6-29

A quick update of the last few days bring us back to Kuta. We did not take the public ferry from Lombok, but chose instead a smaller junk style private operation. We waded out to our motor launch, same one we took to the Gili’s days ago. All the luggage including Bici went out in another native outrigger. Breakfast and launch were included in the $20US p/p fare plus $8 for Bici. It was a choppy rolling crossing. Judee was quite green when we arrived. Smaller boats are hard on her. We quickly found lodging in a quaint Balinese bungalow with fan and mosquito netting, but a dip and pour toilet and cold shower, all set in a lush tropical garden with cool breezes. On our afternoon walk around tour, we discovered that tomorrow was a religious holiday. All the homes and businesses were preparing long bamboo poles all decorated with small offerings, long chains of palm leaves and decorative ornaments made of native floral materials. What a sight to walk down the streets with these long curved poles arching out over the pavement.

The next morning when we awoke it was poring so we just rolled over with smiles and slept another hour. We decided not to go straight back to Kuta but to stop on the other side of the peninsula a little farther north on the beach in Sanur. Wow, what a difference from Kuta. Much more laid back, cleaner and more up scale and not flowing with surfer kids. We found a place, Flashback” run by a pair of Aussies: six bungalows and a loft over the restaurant. We took the large loft with fan and netting over the bed, cold shared shower, TV for $20US. Staying here were many very nice and interesting guests. One couple from Perth invited us to stay with them if we find ourselves on the western coast.

The ride to Kuta only 11k took us back into the hustle and bustle of congested tourist haven. Our hotel welcomed us back and gave us the room next to our old room right on pool side. After lunch we found the back alleyways drawing us further off the main drag, into book stalls, warongs, surf board shops and tacky souvenir stalls, all this mixed with a light on again-off again mist. We checked used guide books and bargained on prices. We found that some were knock-offs with Xeroxed pages, a mix of new and old editions. Buyers must beware and look carefully. We enjoyed getting lost in the labyrinth of small alleys and lanes window shopping.

Today awoke to rain again. We roll over. After a breakfast of fried noodles and coffee, we hop on Bici to go on a search to find someway to box Bici to go on the plane. Traffic and rain: we get soaked, wet and dirty. We stopped at a packing/cargo place that was unable to help us; went to the mall looking for big boxes or maybe a bike store with no luck, either. We spy another cargo shipper and pull in. all the employees are sitting together on break, but one comes over to see what we need. The rest follow and after much discussion among themselves: Yes we can box your bike $25. We roll Bici into the warehouse and start taking him apart; lots of eyes and hands to help. Then we step back; the team of boxers attack Bici; within 45 minutes Bici is housed in his new travel box and we are driven back to the hotel. All smiles when we thought earlier all was lost. These people are wonderfully adept at solving problems and getting the job done.

1. & 2. Preparing festival poles 3. Goodbye from Bali!!

 

We leave for Singapore, July 1. We have Bici boxed, hopefully avoiding a similar experience when arriving into Bali of a broken bike. We cannot seem to get reservations for a hotel. We plan to put ourselves in the mercy of the travel desk in the airport when we get there. We are just marking time until our flight tomorrow by emailing and catching up on the end of our Indonesian travels – this year!!

.. .

 

.