On Top of the World

I had been looking forward to Indonesia since I first started planning my trip, and it has not disappointed. Upon arriving in Kuta we heard the murmurs of fellow travellers: “there is nothing to do in Bali, you will get bored after a couple days,” “don’t walk around in the evening,” and “get out of Kuta as quickly as possible.” After 5 days here I still feel like I have only touched the surface of Bali. We have been staying in ‘Bed Bunkers’ which bragged on the Internet over the fact that they have three-bed bunks. Not sure why this is a selling point but makes for interesting mid-night washroom breaks. We booked a tour to see the temples, which included the famous floating temple featured on the 50 000 rupiah bill, as well as Monkey Temple. I have never seen so many monkeys in my life and all the “don’t feed or touch monkeys in Asia” advice that I had received back home was flashing in my mind as the lady handed us peanuts and said “get closer, get closer!” I think I am monkey-ed out since they can be so unpredictable. While visiting the other temples we realized that we were quite the hot commodity to these people who have apparently seen very few white people. We would get asked by one group if they could be in a picture with us, only to be joined by 5 or 10 others who wanted to get in on it as well. I had mothers put little children on my lap for photos, made more peace signs than I wish to admit, and maybe enjoyed the ‘fame’ just a little. Since we really liked our tour guide, Hogen, we asked him where else in Bali we need to visit. He named off many activities and sights, and we ended up hiring him as transportation for the next two days to introduce us to Bali. Our first activity was to wake up at 2am to hike up Mount Batur to watch the sunrise. Although I questioned my decision when the alarm went off at 1:30 in the morning, I knew I had made the right decision as we sat above the clouds, watched the sky light up, and I sipped on a delicious cup of Bali coffee. We went dolphin watching and snorkelling in Lovina, spent the day at hot springs, held bats and ate dog (sorry puppy). I have two weeks left in Indonesia and hope to learn to surf, fit in several scuba dives, and lay on the beach for many more hours. I have to give Jenn credit for some of the amazing pictures you are about to see.