A Trip to Bali

Kaori and I just got back from a week in Bali. Even with the crazy markets and all that is going on in the world, we decide to continue with our vacation plans and head to Bali.  

Bali is an amazing place.  My guide book "Lonely Planet" describes a place so magnificent that when the Dutch first landed in 1597, that two sailors who arrived on the "Cornelius De Houtman" refused to leave the place when the ship set sail for Holland. 

We stayed at the Ritz Carlton in Jimbaran.  Although I'm sure the island has lost some of it's grandeur since the early days, the hotel has brought some of it back. 

Below are a few photos of the week: 

Here Kaori is standing at the top of the steps, just inside the entrance looking down into the center with the restaurants, the gardens and the many swimming pools the hotel had to offer. 

Note: you can click on any of the photos to get a closer look

Here I am praying with the statue for the markets return to sanity in hopes I will be able to pay for the vacation when I return.  

Bali was a perfect place to put all the insanity behind you for a while. Everywhere you looked, there was a spot to relax by the pool or look out over the ocean.  

There were a series of pools at the hotel.  The largest, poured down a ten meter drop to a lower pool.  If you stood at the edge, you could look down to the other pool, across a large lawn to the wide, deep blue ocean. 

The lawn next to the cliff down to the water. 

From the lawn, you could walk down a long set of stone steps to the beach. 

The best part about the beach, was the salt water pool built into the side of the cliff.  We spent every morning here. It was the most relaxing place I've been in years.  You can see the flowered tree that smelled of sweet gardenia and you would smell when the warm breeze swept up from the ocean.  

Here we are by the pool.

... and in the pool. 

Kaori with the pool to herself.           

Usually after a morning in the pool, we'd head back to the room and get ready for an adventure in town.  This is the view from our room. 

The one thing you could not avoid in Bali was the flowers.  I'm not a much of a flower buff, but everywhere you looked, they were covering the island. 

Path to the room. 

The hotel was also filled with lotus ponds and palms

spilling over the walls onto the steps

Even in the road. These were prayer offerings.  Usually a small bamboo box with flowers and a few candies or snacks.  They were everywhere on the sidewalk and road and very difficult not to step on. 

On the first night out we went to "Ku De Ta" recommended by a colleague for my birthday dinner.  A very groovy place, famous for their music, good food and spectacular  sunset.  

So we hung out and grooved to the tunes, 

Ate a delicious birthday dinner.

And watched the sunset.

and set...

and set...

The next day we headed to Ubud famous for friendly monkeys and dance.

When we first arrived we saw the usual Bali shops...

The usual shop keepers...

The locals with traditional headdress  for the full moon festival "Tilum" held every 15 days. 

Then we met the friendly monkeys

I think they were so friendly because the tourist were constantly feeding them the bananas and fruit you could buy from the "Monkey Specialist" dressed in green.

There were even statues of happy monkeys 

(Wonder what he's grinning at?) 

Not all statues were so happy. 

Some were down right unhappy look'en. 

 

That night we went to see the famous "Legong" dance. There are many, many traditional dances in Bali.  Most have a orchestra with 20 or so musicians playing gangsa  (Gangsa is a bamboo or metal xylophone with a way tropical feel to it.)

There were wild characters ... 

... and great monsters

The next day we went to Ulu Watu, famous for it's mean monkeys, beautiful sunsets and dance. 

Here is the silhouette of a mean monkey in the sunset. 

The dance here is called, "The Kecak Fire & Trance Dance"

(Click on the tile for the full story)

This was one of the highlights of the trip.  I was so blown away by this I can't even begin to describe it. One of the great things about it was that the music was not instrumental, but sung by fifty or so guys who would chant, hum and sing the story. It somehow reminded me of the Paul Simon on the "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes," but much more authentic. (Without the Paul Simon track.)  

The Kecak "Orchestra" 

 

The talented Sri-Rama

The beautiful Dewi sita

The wild Bird-Man with fangs

Large white monkey with fangs "Hanoman" comes to attack the goddess.

Hanoman attacks crowd from behind. 

(Just behind where we were sitting) 

{Not a friendly Monkey}

Comic relief from Delem 

Long fingernail scary dude dances with fearless woman from the audience. 

Evil dude to burn mean monkey

They lit real fire to burn the evil monkey in a very enclosed stage surrounded by a hundred people and only one small exit. Note wind blowing flames into the audience.

Monkey about to burn

Flames are now very high and as the wind kicks up, I wonder how much longer before the flames begin to singe the hair of those in the front row.

Monkey then leaps to his feet and puts out fire with his bare feet. (Real bare feet) 

It really was an incredible show.  I somehow doubt that they are insured, but as it is held in a temple, I suppose they don't need it. 

The next day, we head to Sanur  famous for it's mango smoothies and Cheeky Monkeys. 

They even had monkeys that could do laundry!

And where do monkeys learn to do laundry one may wonder? Well, at the "Cheeky Monkey School" of course! 

Excuse me. Cheeky Monkey "Learning Center." 

From the photo, I suppose the monkeys also learn to perform surgical procedures. 

Sunur also had a beach where you could go sailing or windsurfing.  Although we didn't get a chance to do either, we did visit the local museum of "Adrien Jean Le Mayeur" a Frenchman who arrived in Bali in 1932 and painted the beautiful Balinese women who danced in Legong.  His house was filled with these dancers in their native garb at the time. (Topless with flowers in their hair of course).  

We also found quiet a large lobster that had washed up. 

In the evening we went to the "Living Room" in Seminyak for another delicious diner in paradise. 

The next day we were in the "Kori Restaurant and bar" in Legian. (Only one letter off from the "Kaori" restaurant!) You can't see it here, but we were sitting on cushions in our own small "villa" at a table surrounded by lotus ponds.

This is only about half a block from the site of the 2005 terrorist bombings.  

Note: From the people we spoke with, the bombings were though to have been carried out by people visiting from the neighboring Java and not by Balinese. Since then there have been a number of security measures that have made the country much safer.  We had no problems while we were there.  The hotel did have a gate with bomb sniffing dogs though.   

The beach in Legian

On the last day we were in Bali, we went to the restaurant near the seaside pool to get our last bite to eat and watch the sunset. 

Far from the restaurant was the "romantic sunset experience."  You can pay a small fortune for your own private meal at the end of the dock with your very own Bali "gangsa" serenade.   You can see the couple at the end of the dock romancing. 

And so as we finished up the meal and the sun set we headed to the airport and back to Tokyo. 

There was of course so much more than what I have described here.   I only added some of the highlights and a few of the 400 or so photos I took while in Bali.  If you get a chance to go, I recommend it.