Introduction
ANA Business Class Chicago to Tokyo
United Club – Tokyo Narita
Thai Airways Business Class Tokyo to Bangkok
One Night in Bangkok
Thai Airways Business Class Bangkok to Bali
D’Wina Villa Kuta and Exploring Bali (Part 1)
Exploring Bali (Part 2)
Exploring Bali (Part 3)
Ethiopian Airlines Bangkok to Addis Ababa
Ethiopian Airlines Cloud Nine Lounge and Addis Ababa to Seychelles
Hilton Seychelles Northolme Resort and Exploring the Seychelles (Part 1)
Exploring the Seychelles (Part 2)
Exploring the Seychelles (Part 3)
Ethiopian Airlines Seychelles to Addis Ababa and Back to the US

On Friday morning, Gusti (our driver on Wednesday) was at the front of our villas right on time, and we headed out on a full day adventure. Gusti brought a spacious van type vehicle with “air con” as he liked to boast.

First, we headed out of Kuta on our way into the mountains and eastern side of Bali. On our way, we stopped at a shop that sold hundreds of stone statues. We were able to watch some men carving the statues. The statues were much like all the statues that we have seen around Bali- symbolic temple statues. Gusti explained that they statues are found not only in temples but also peoples homes- each statue symbolizing something different.

Next we went to watch a Barong dance performance. Barong dance is a traditional Balinese dance that tells a story, similar to a folklore. It was in a covered outdoor theatre. The roof was made of straw and bamboo. About 30-40 men played music- mostly drums, bamboo xylophone, and other wooden instruments. The decorations, props, and especially the costumes were fantastic.

Next, we stopped at a silversmith who showed us how he makes silver jewelry. It was a local shop and the man and his extended family all lived in the compound.

Then we headed to a Tegenungan Waterfall. It was a quick stop off the road. The waterfall was beautiful and nice a backdrop for some pretty pictures.

Afterward, we headed to the spice garden.  Mrs. Guru was especially excited about this. We were able to see cinnamon, ginger, cacao (chocolate), coffee, bananas, white and black pepper, vanilla bean, etc. growing in the garden. We use these spices so often but never think much about how they’re grown. We also saw the Luwak animal (similar to a raccoon and cat combined), which makes the Luwak coffee. I had never heard of Luwak coffee and I cannot say I was deprived before. They feed coffee beans to the Luwak animal and it eats them and then poops them out the next day. Apparently this is a delicacy. GROSS! After touring the garden they took us to a beautiful outdoor seating area so we could try the different coffees and hot cocoa. Our tour guide and the people at the spice garden kept urging me to try the Luwak coffee. Um no!!

Next we went to the Kintamani Volcano. Our tour guide took us to a buffet restaurant, which was quite nice. We sat outside and directly in front of us was the view of the volcano.  The food was all Indonesian- rice, noodles, vegetables, chicken sate, etc. The volcano has only erupted twice. The last time it erupted was 1997. You could still see the volcano ash on the ground. The people who lived near the volcano made a business of scooping up the ash and using it for building supplies. As we drove along the roads we could see large piles of it outside of people’s homes.

Following the volcano our tour led us to the Tegallalang Rice Terrace. It was so neat. Another thing that we just pour out of a box and cook without thinking much about how it was grown. The rice terraces, or rice patties as it is also referred to, were very gorgeous. Like grassy stair steps very intricately placed. The rice grows in water tables and each has to be sectioned off so that they are only in 10 cm of water. It looked like a lot of work and you had to be very knowledgeable- unlike growing tomatoes. J The Tegallalang Rice Terraces were much larger than the many we passed on our drive. Our tour guide, Gusti, explained that many families owned it and worked together. You could see many women with baskets on top of their heads carrying large loads. Gusti told us they sometimes carry as much as 200 pounds or more.

Next we headed to Monkey Forest. Monkey Forest was located next to a temple. The temple was having a cremation ceremony. While we walked through Monkey Forest we could hear the music playing in the temple. The Forest was full of trees and streams. The monkeys were everywhere. In the trees and on the sidewalk that we were walking on. Families of monkeys with many babies would just hand out on the side walk or sit right next to it. Some of the tourists had bananas and the monkeys would swipe the bananas right out of their hands. We also saw the monkeys jumping on people’s purses and backs. The monkey’s were in no way afraid of humans. They walked right next to us and enjoyed taking items right out of people’s hands. The monkeys were not caged, but they were well fed by tourists, which kept the monkeys in the forest. They just roamed around like the people did.

Then we went to Ubud. A popular city in Bali. It was much more touristy than Kuta, where we were staying. Ubud had a lot of charm and character, due it’s large temple and many Villas. It was also full of touristy shops and people trying to sell you items. We only spent about 30 minutes in Ubud.

Lastly, we went to watch a Kecak Fire Dance. It was also in an open-air style building with a straw roof and bamboo walls. The costumes were fantastic. This dance was different from Barong because they only used vocals. About 50 men sat Indian sytle on the stage and made clicking and “kecak” sounds to make the music. No instruments were used. The dance told a story and in the end a character came out and stomped on a fire several times. Gusti, our tour guide, explained that they believe that God is in the man when he can stomp on the fire without getting hurt.  The lighting made it hard for us to take any pictures, but below are a few pictures of other dances:

We got back to our Villa, our home in Bali around 8:45 PM. We were exhausted from the 12 hour day. We were almost sad to say bye to Gusti. When you spend 12 hours in a car with someone, who shares so much of their culture and knowledge with you, you sorta feel like friends afterward. That night we ordered room service, which was quite good and cheap!

Continue to Part 10: Ethiopian Airlines Bangkok to Addis Ababa