Baron Adventures: Destination Singapore & More: Hello 2013... Hello Bali!

Some of our friends and colleagues in Singapore talk about visiting Bali like we used to talk about visiting the New Jersey shore when we lived in Philadelphia. It’s a quick flight, and several people I’ve met here have traveled to Bali as many as 10 times since they have lived in Singapore. Our trip to Bali was a quick one, but one that was filled with surprises (good and not that great) that will certainly put Bali back on our list of places to visit a 2^nd time.

First impressions of Bali… logistically painful! It took a long time to purchase our visas and get through immigration- by the time we made it through, we were eager to get to the hotel. We had read in our guide books that a taxi to the hotel should be about $10. We decided to use the Phuket approach to getting a taxi- the farther out of the airport your walk, the cheaper the taxis get… but unfortunately this strategy did not work out well in Bali! The prices didn’t get lower, it started to rain, and we all started getting impatient… so finally we decided to agree to be ripped off with a certain gentleman who seemed nice enough. He went off to get his taxi to pick us up and when he arrived, it was an unmarked silver van… our spidey senses started to tingle… but we continued on. The rain was terrible and the traffic was definitely on par with Bangkok… next thing we knew our driver was taking a “short cut” down one way alley ways that were barely wide enough for the van to pass through. We were careening through pot holes and puddles large enough to swallow a dog… and more than once, had to back-up as a vehicle (truck or motorcycle) decided to drive down the road going in the opposite direction. At one point, the driver actually paid a “toll” to a plain-clothes man standing in an alley so that we could pass. It was at this point that I started praying that we were not being taken to some terrible place to be mugged, and Rob started planning how he would use his high school wrestling skills to incapacitate the driver and simultaneously get all three of us out of the van.

Luckily, just when we thought we were doomed, we arrived safely at our hotel. Relief. That’s all I have to say. The other thing I will say is that I will never travel in Asia without a pre-arranged hotel transfer from the airport. Live and learn. We are done with spontaneous taxi-hiring in foreign airports!

Bali has several tourist destinations within it and each is quite different. We decided to stay in Seminyak for our first trip to Bali. Seminyak is a beach area that is known for cute shops and restaurants. Overall, I will say that Seminyak was just okay… especially for a family trip. The more we learned about Bali (while were there) the more we realized that maybe we should have stayed in Ubud (the mountain area) or Nusa Dua which is more of a resort area. Seminyak was adorable if you are on a trip as a couple and want to get spa treatments, go into funky boutiques, and rent a motor bike and scoot around town. The problem for us was that we had a two year old, and there are no sidewalks, and when it’s torrential down pouring, the whole area is just a bit challenging to navigate.

That said, we had some great dinners at places like Petinget, Biku and Café Bali. We also had a great breakfast at a place called Deus which doubles as a cool motorcycle shop in addition to restaurant and bar. We also enjoyed some good chill time at the pool in our hotel- and I had a great massage… but really, the highlight was leaving Seminyak for a one day tour to the surrounding area.

Our driver took us past amazing, verdant rice paddy fields that truly looked like scenes out of a movie. I’ll be honest, I had no idea how rice was grown or harvested until this trip… I mean I know it grows in water… but I also thought the actual rice grew under the water… nope. You plant it in the water, but then it grows like wheat and you harvest the top part. Indonesia is the 3^rd largest rice producing country in the world- but from the looks of Bali, it’s kind of amazing that this is the case. Yes, there are tons of rice paddies, but we didn’t see any serious machinery of any sort- it all appeared to be maintained, planted, harvested the old fashioned way… by hand… or really, backbreaking labor more like it.

Our primary destination was an absolutely amazing temple called Pura Tanah Lot. There were actually two different temples- one was out on a cliff and another was out on a small island- and there are smaller places of worship and shrines all around the area. It was a breathtaking view! Avery was also very brave and for $0.50 was allowed to pet a holy snake that lives in the cave near the temple. The whole area was gorgeous and a marvel of man’s ingenuity of building these temples in such an extreme place, but I will say that it was so touristy that I didn't really get the holy feeling I thought I would from visiting a temple. That said, our tour guide did a great job of telling us about the religious customs and culture of the Balinese. He told us that offerings are given to the gods twice a day, every day. One to the good spirits, and one to the evil spirits. The good spirit offering is usually placed on the family alter in the home and the offering to the evil spirits is placed outside the front gate to the home (to keep them away). Amazingly, every home in Bali has its own family temple. Just driving around Bali you can see the tops of these amazing structures with heads of cool statues popping over the tops of high gates and fences. Balinese Hinduism is really a blend of many religions- including Hinduism, Buddhism, and even animism (worship of the natural world). It was fascinating to hear our driver tell us about his philosophy- and then of course to see the offerings everywhere we went. He told us that the Balinese people don’t generally have very intense jobs or work hours, or take many vacations because they need to devote so much time to worship, holy days, and preparing offerings. That said, nowadays, to make things a bit more convenient, you can purchase pre-packaged offerings in the local grocery stores so women don’t have to spend as much time preparing them.

What’s in the offerings? Rice, cakes, flowers, even candy bars. The offerings are everywhere- (imagine one outside every house on a very crowded street) and while beautiful- they often get eaten by the abundance of wild dogs running all around and with the monsoon rains, are also floating down the streets before long. Unfortunately, when we walked on the beach near our hotel (which was dark brown/black sand by the way) the beach was super dirty- littered with remnants of hundreds of offerings and other trash. I think there are other nicer beaches, but we were definitely disappointed and nearly shocked by how dirty and trash filled the beach area was.

All in all, we enjoyed our time, but I would definitely be more keen to check out a different part of Bali on our next trip. That said, we also are starting to learn a lot more about how to be savvy travelers (especially with a 2 year old!) in Asia, and we've already started applying those lessons to our preparation for our next adventure- 7 days in Vietnam in February!