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  • Tag: Bali

    • biking through bali

      Posted at 9:25 am by jasminedesirees, on March 3, 2015

      mount batur

      During our last few days in Bali we decided to do a biking tour. We had heard great things about it, and thought it would be a fun way to see some more of the countryside.

      We left from a restaurant near Mt. Batur, it was foggy that morning so our view wasn’t as great as I’d hoped.

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      We hopped on our bikes and set off. It was basically terrifying, I go biking pretty often, but we started off on the side of a very busy road, and it was pretty steep, and I was given strict instructions to never use the front brake, so I obviously used it constantly and nearly sent myself flying over the handlebars a few times.

      Once we got going though, it was great. It was a beautiful day, we got to see a lot of different places including a school, a cock-fighting ring and we even met a guy along the road who invited us to come in and check out his house.

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      Our guide was a young guy, he was very friendly and knowledgeable, and told us a lot about Balinese culture, so I thought I would share everything that I learned:

      -a traditional balinese house has 4 buildings. “a compound” one for the parents, one for the kids, a kitchen, and a spiritual room for rituals. The compound is surrounded by a wall on all sides, to keep negative spirits out, and separate the family from the craziness of the outside. There is only one entrance, which is guarded by statues to ward off evil spirits and black magic, and also statues who are there to welcome friends into the home.

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      -Balinese kids don’t get their names until they are 1 1/2 years old. They believe in reincarnation, so until the child is 1 1/2, they believe that the soul of the child still belongs to the ancestor, so it isn’t right to call them by a different name.

      When the child turns 1 1/2, there is a special naming ceremony where they get their names. Before that, they are known as Wayan, Made, Ketut, etc, which actually stand for their birth order, the oldest child is Wayan, the second is Made, and so on. So when you meet Balinese, you will hear these names a lot, but they are not actually the given names, more like a nickname.

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      -Balinese kids go to school 6 days a week, from 7:30 to 1:30. Primary school is free, and mandatory for all children, but middle and high school is very expensive, so many children can not afford to go, especially people from the country, as many of them don’t yet see the value in continued education. They learn 3 languages, Balinesian, Indonesian, and English, starting when they are about 9 years old.

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      – When Balinese children are born, the Balinese believe that they are born with 3 siblings already, the placenta, the blood, and the other birth liquids that come out with them. The placenta of each child, and each generation, is buried within the house compound of the family, as a way to keep part of every family member connected to the home.

      Young adults may go off to the city to find work, or move away for awhile, but they still feel that their home is very important, and they know they will one day return to look after their parents, and start their own families.

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      -Balinese believe it is not safe for children under 3 months to touch the ground because it will make them sick, so you will always see mothers carrying their young children. At 3 months, there is a special ceremony where they touch the ground for the first time, and then they are taught to stand and walk.

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      -Birthdays aren’t a big deal for Balinese children until they get older. At 17 or 18 they will have a ceremony to celebrate the boys becoming men, and the girls becoming women.

      There is another ceremony that takes place right before Balinese people marry. During the ceremony, the points of the 6 front teeth are filed down to be flat across. The Balinese believe that within every person there is both good and evil, and that the filing down of the teeth helps the person to conquer the bad things within themselves, like greed, jealousy and anger.

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      biking through bali

      This ceremony is still performed today, as a way to keep up the tradition, but it isn’t done quite as severely now, because of intervention from dentists. In the past, all the teeth would be filed to be straight across, and the straighter the teeth, the more attractive a person was considered. Now, the points may be filed off the canine teeth, and slightly off the other teeth, but it is more as a way to continue with the tradition.

      biking through bali

      biking through bali

      -The traditional Balinese calendar year is only 210 days long, so their years are shorter than ours. They also go by the international calendar as well.

      biking through bali

      biking through bali

      It was really hot the day we went biking, and we were pretty exhausted by the time we got to the end of the trip, but it was really fun, and I’m definitely glad we did it.

      Before heading back to Ubud, we had lunch at this beautiful little restaurant, and they served us strips of soybean bark, possibly, in this amazing teriyaki-ish sauce. I have no idea what it was, so I can’t even try to track it down, but it was so delicious that I have dreams about it sometimes.

      biking through bali

      Posted in Indonesia, travel | 6 Comments | Tagged Bali, bicycle, bike tour, culture, Indonesia, mt. batur, travel
    • lost in bali

      Posted at 8:54 am by jasminedesirees, on February 25, 2015

      While we were creeping around South Kuta, we spent a lot of time just cruising around exploring on our moped.

      We got lost a few times, but always found our way back eventually.

      One day we got lost as the sun was starting to go down, and I wasn’t too excited to be riding around on a moped, lost, in the dark, but after a few more turns we wound up driving down a road made entirely of white rock, and ending up on a beach covered in mossy green tide pools where locals were BBQing, swimming, and watching their kids play in the water.

      Some of the best places are the ones you find when you aren’t looking.

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      Posted in Indonesia, travel | 0 Comments | Tagged Bali, beaches, Indonesia, South Kuta, travel
    • tagal lalang

      Posted at 9:01 am by jasminedesirees, on February 17, 2015
      tagal lalang rice fields bali

      One of my favourite things about Bali was how green everything was. I’ve never seen anything that green before.

      We stopped in at the Tagal Lalang rice fields in central Bali one day, and they were absolutely breathtaking.

      There are restaurants and shops all along the road to Tagal Lalang, and then all of a sudden there is a break, and it’s just sheer gorgeousness.

      You pay a small fee, but you can climb down and wander around the rice fields for as long as you want.

      Definitely stop in if you are anywhere close to the area, it’s so worth it.

      tagal lalang rice fields bali
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      Posted in Indonesia, travel | 0 Comments | Tagged Bali, central Bali, Indonesia, rice, rice terraces, tagal lalang, Tagal Lalang rice fields, travel, ubud
    • uluwatu temple

      Posted at 8:58 am by jasminedesirees, on February 10, 2015

      While we were lounging around South Kuta, we stopped in at the Uluwatu Temple to watch the sunset.

      It was gorgeous, the temple is right on a cliff overlooking the ocean, and there is a walkway stretching along the cliff in both directions.

      There is also a ceremony that they have every night to bring offerings to the Hindu Gods, and we were able to see that as well.

      Plus the ceremonial wraps that everyone has to wear to enter the temple are the most beautiful colour of purple, so that’s not nothing.

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      uluwatu temple

      Posted in Indonesia, travel | 0 Comments | Tagged Bali, hinduism, Indonesia, temples, uluwatu, Uluwatu Temple
    • south kuta beaches

      Posted at 8:19 am by jasminedesirees, on February 5, 2015

      After our exertions on Mount Rinjani on Lombok, we took the ferry back over to Bali. It was about 4 hours, but there was lots of snacks, so it worked out. D had some family coming to visit, but we had a few days to kill, so we found an amazing surf house to stay at via AirBnB, and settled in for a few days in South Kuta.

      south kuta bali

      south kuta bali

      Please note that there is a huge difference between South Kuta, and Kuta proper. I spent about an hour in Kuta, and that was enough for the rest of my life. It’s ridiculously busy and it’s Hard Rock Cafe’s and Starbucks as far as they eye can see.

      south kuta bali

      south kuta bali

      South Kuta is a lot quieter, with some amazing beaches, and some of the best surfing spots in Indonesia, and some cute restaurants too. Our few days there were pretty much perfect. We would sleep in every day, have mango for breakfast, lay by the pool for awhile and then set out on our rented moped to explore the beaches.

      south kuta bali

      south kuta bali

      We stopped in at so many different ones that I can’t remember all of the names, but my favourites were Uluwatu and Dreamland Beach (not to be confused with Dream Beach).

      south kuta bali

      south kuta bali

      Uluwatu was amazing, we sat in a bar nestled into the rocks, and watched the surfers for hours. It’s weird how watching someone who is really good at something makes you feel like it’s easy and you are probably good at it too?

      south kuta bali

      south kuta bali

      By the time we left there it was taking every ounce of my self restraint to not grab a surf board and paddle out, because I knew in the depths of my soul that I would be a world class surfer, if I could just get over my fear of sharks, and large waves, and learn to stand up on the board (I have actually been surfing lots of times, but these were BIG waves).

      south kuta bali

      south kuta bali

      south kuta bali

      A few days after we were at Uluwatu, there was a killer whale out playing in the waves with the surfers, wish we had been there to see it, but also I probably would have had a heart attack from the stress.

      south kuta bali

      south kuta bali

      south kuta bali

      Dreamland beach was gorgeous, it was a bit off the beaten path, down the kind of dirt road that can only lead to somewhere amazing, or certain death, but absolutely one or the other.

      south kuta bali

      south kuta bali

      south kuta bali

      There is a big hotel there, it was still being worked on when we visited, but it has a huge infinity pool, and you can go hang out there for the day, it’s $10.00 to use the pool, but you get a voucher to spend it on food and drinks, so it’s not too bad.

      south kuta bali

      south kuta bali

      On our way back one day we rode past a house that had a door that my dreams are made of. It was purple, and beautiful, and we will be together one day, I’m sure of it.

      south kuta bali

      south kuta bali

      Posted in Indonesia, travel | 3 Comments | Tagged Bali, beaches, dreamland, Indonesia, kuta, South Kuta, surfing, travel, uluwatu
    • tirtta ganga

      Posted at 9:02 am by jasminedesirees, on December 15, 2014

      On our way back from hiking Mount Batur, we stopped in to check out Tirtta Ganga, one of Bali’s gorgeous water palaces. it’s up in the NE part of Bali, so it’s perfect to visit while you’re up in Amed, or on your way back from a day trip out of Ubud.

      tirrta ganga

      tirrta ganga

      tirrta ganga

      It’s not marked very conspicuously, when our driver pulled over I thought he was just stopping for snacks, because it’s surrounded by walls, with shops and restaurants in front, with just a little gate and a sign over the archway.

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      tirrta ganga

      tirrta ganga

      Luckily it wasn’t very busy when we were there so we were able to check everything out and take lots of pictures without there being a crowd, or a group of random people in all of our photos.

      tirrta ganga

      tirrta ganga

      The grounds was amazing, with lots of sculptures and water features, and a giant fountain in the middle. There are stepping stones all through the first pool so you can walk around it and look at all of the sculptures.

      tirrta ganga

      tirrta ganga

      We were told that the waters in Tirtta Ganga were supposed to have spiritual healing properties, and that people were allowed to swim in certain areas, but there wasn’t really anyone to ask, and we didn’t want to accidentally go into the wrong area.

      Also, there are huge Koi fish everywhere, and they definitely could have taken off a pinky toe if they felt so inclined.

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      tirrta ganga

      It was very peaceful, quiet and green, even though there is a more expensive homestay and a nice restaurant along the right side of the property, it doesn’t take away from the ambiance.

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      tirrta ganga

      Also there was a large pool filled with lilypads and gorgeous purple flowers, so that was my favourite part, obviously.

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      tirrta ganga

      Posted in Indonesia, travel | 1 Comment | Tagged amed, Bali, culture, Indonesia, tirrta ganga, travel, ubud, water palace
    • amed, bali

      Posted at 8:00 am by jasminedesirees, on December 2, 2014

      After we left Sanur, we went up to the northeast coast of Bali to spend a week in Amed. It’s completely gorgeous up there, and also very relaxed. It’s very far away from the hustle and bustle of Denpasar, and the tourist trap of Legian/Kuta. It’s just a really cool, chill little town.

      amed, bali
      amed, bali

      Amed is about a 3 hour drive from Sanur, but the scenery is amazing. Amed is quite near Mount Agung, and the drive takes you along the coast, and past some gorgeous rice fields. The coast where Amed is situated is great for snorkeling, there is a reef that stretches all along the shore. although some of the beaches are kind of rocky.

      We also did our first shipwreck dive there (the USS Liberty) which was every Little Mermaid fantasy I’ve ever had come to life, but more on that later.

      amed, bali
      amed, bali
      amed, bali

      We didn’t have a place to stay, but there are tons of little cheap homestays in Amed, so we found a place no problem.

      The best part was, because we were there in October and that’s coming up on the rainy season, it wasn’t very busy, so even though we were staying at a cheap homestay, we went to quite a few of the nicer resorts and hung out there for a few hours each day, and they didn’t mind at all.

      amed, bali
      amed, bali

      We would always order food and drinks, but we couldn’t have afforded to stay there, so we ended up getting the best of both worlds. The Santai had a beautiful pool right on the beach, and delicious mango crumble for dessert.

      Amed had lots of cute little restaurants, which were largely wasted on me since it was too hot to eat anything other than mango and iced coffee, a yoga studio where you could practice yoga every evening along the beach, and no fewer than five Bob Marley themed bars.

      amed, bali
      amed, bali
      amed, bali

      The best (but coldest) thing we did while staying in Amed was climbing to the top of the Mount Batur volcano for sunrise, but that definitely deserves its own post.

      Amed was one of my favourite places in Bali, and is a great stop over for a few days before taking the boat across to the Gili Islands.

      amed, bali
      amed, bali

      Posted in Indonesia, travel | 6 Comments | Tagged amed, Bali, Indonesia, mount agung, mount batur, travel, uss liberty
    • sanur, bali

      Posted at 8:00 am by jasminedesirees, on November 24, 2014

      Once we decided we definitely wouldn’t be able to stay any longer in Australia, we had to decide where in Indonesia we wanted to go. We’d spent a few days in Bali on our way to Flores, and loved it, so we decided to go back and really spend some time there.

      We heard good things about Sanur, so we decided to spend a few days there. I wasn’t crazy about the beaches in Sanur, but it was way nicer than being in the hustle and bustle of Kuta or Legian, and it was a very relaxing few days.

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      We ended up finding a room to rent on AirBnB from the friendliest group of Bulgarians you’d ever care to meet. They lived in an amazing house with a swimming pool right in the center, which is basically where we stayed the entire time we were there.

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      We did manage to venture out into Sanur every day though, and found some awesome places to visit. Our hosts also took us to some really fun places, so I wanted to share them here.

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      The Man Shed– This was basically the coolest bar I’ve been to since the Warehouse. The whole thing is like a garage, filled with old, fixed up cars and bikes, and funky art.

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      Casablanca– Every Friday night at Casablanca they have a “free pour” for an hour, starting at 7 p.m. It is free draft beer for everyone, as many as you can drink, starting at 7, and ending either at 8, or when someone breaks one of the rules. During the free pour, nobody is allowed to be on their phone, leave the restaurant, go to the bathroom, etc, and there are a bunch of funny rules. Everyone is super careful not to break any of the rules because nobody wants to be the reason that a bar full of people are no longer getting free beer, although we were told that it almost never lasts the full hour.

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      Barb’s Sport– This was one of our first stops when we arrived in Sanur, we were both a little sad to have had to leave Australia, so we hung out with all the Australians and watched football with the Aussies. They have really good food, and their iced coffee is pretty much legendary. Weeks later when we were staying on the other side of Bali, we had to make a trip near Sanur and were seriously considering stopping in Sanur just to go back to Barb’s to get another one.

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      Night Market- If you are in Sanur, be sure to stop in a the Night Market for supper. There are lots of delicious little morsels for sale, but the best thing to get is at the very back corner of the market, where a little fish restaurant is set up. You choose your cut from the cooler filled with all different kinds of freshly caught seafood, and they grill it for you right there. A fillet of Mahi-Mahi with rice and onions will set you back USD $3, $6 if you want a one liter Bintang to wash it down.

      They also have an amazing smoothie stand where you can get fresh juice with every single fruit in the world for only $1 USD. I spent a LOT of time at the smoothie stand.

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      sanur bali indonesia

      Posted in Indonesia, travel | 2 Comments | Tagged AirBnB, Bali, Indonesia, sanur, travel
    • monkey forest: ubud

      Posted at 8:00 am by jasminedesirees, on September 16, 2014

      Honestly, after my monkey experiences in Thailand, and at Pura Lempuyang, I was pretty ok with not seeing any monkeys again for a long time, but then I somehow found myself at the Monkey Forest in the center of Ubud.

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      It was basically terrifying, there are tons of monkeys, and they are so used to tourists being there and hand feeding them that they aren’t scared of people, so they will come right up to you, and jump and climb all over you.

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      The monkeys can get kind of territorial over the bananas that people bring in to feed to them, I saw a lot of monkeys chasing each other and fighting, and I tried to stay as far away from that as possible, because I had a friend that visited here a few months ago and she ended up getting bit by one of them.

      I was not taking that chance, I’ve seen Outbreak, I know what happens.

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      A lot of the other people there did not share my feelings, and were letting the monkeys crawl all over them and their children, so they could get pictures taken.

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      There was a tiny new baby monkey that was just about the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. He kept trying to sneak away from his mom to get more bananas from the crowd, and she would grab him by the tail and pull him back against her.

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      I saw one person with a bunch of bananas break off one and hand it to the mother, and she grabbed it, handed it to the baby, and then snatched all of the rest of the bananas out of his hand before he had time to react.

      The Monkey Forest is a pretty famous attraction in Ubud, and you should check it out if you’re there, even if you are terrified of monkeys. As long as you keep your distance, don’t feed them, and don’t try to steal the cute little baby (who would have fit perfectly inside my purse and nobody would have ever been any the wiser) you should make it out unscathed.

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      Posted in Indonesia, travel | 1 Comment | Tagged Bali, Indonesia, monkey, monkey forest, ubud
    • batty

      Posted at 8:08 am by jasminedesirees, on September 11, 2014

      On the way home from the luwak coffee plantation, our driver offered to stop at the Bat Temple so we could check it out on the way back to Ubud. I figured it would be a cool temple with maybe some bat sculptures or something, so I agreed, and was excited to visit.

      We arrived at the temple walls, it was across the road from a beautiful black sand beach, and it looked similar to other temples we’d visited in Bali, maybe a bit busier.

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      I made my way inside, stopping to chat with a few people and getting a sacred belt that everyone needs to wear in order to enter the temple. I wandered around the grounds for a bit, admiring the architecture, and eventually headed toward the main dais.

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      As I walked up the steps toward the altar, I heard a strange high pitch noise, but I couldn’t really tell what it was. I stopped about 10 feet away from the altar, which was positioned right in the entrance of the cave, and I thought it was strange that the beautifully carved figures and floral offerings on the altar were all covered in something white.

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      At about the same moment I realized that, I happened to glance just above the altar to the opening of the cave, and that’s when I saw the bats. Thousands of bats, hanging together, moving, squeaking, occasionally flying back into the cave.

      It was quite literally horrifying, especially since my attitude toward bats can basically be summed up thusly:

      To quote Ace Ventura, “Have you ever seen a bat? They’re hideous! Lifeless, beady eyes; clawed feet; huge, grotesque wings, and fangs! They give you rabies, you know!”

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      It was kind of like a car accident, I couldn’t look away, but I did manage to take a few pictures and get a video. I didn’t think anyone would believe me if I didn’t have evidence.

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      The temple is actually very sacred, you can learn more about it here, and the architecture is beautiful. The temple grounds isn’t very big, so it doesn’t take long to see the whole thing, and it’s definitely not something you’ll soon forget.

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      Posted in Indonesia, travel | 0 Comments | Tagged Bali, bats, Goh Lawah Temple, Indonesia, temple, travel
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