Catching up--December, January

The last two months have been hectic to say the least. I didn't even get to expound upon a big Thai holiday back in the end of November, Loy Krathong, the Theravada Buddhist day of repentance where Thais take "Krathongs," small votives with flowers, incense and sometimes foods, and set them out to sail on the Chao Praya River as an act of repenting for their sins and starting afresh. So, here goes my best effort to catch up on my travel and cultural reports--I'll be uploading pictures in the next few days that were taken from my new digital SLR camera, my Christmas present from the States!

What I've been doing with my time....

First off, my efforts to organize the Bangkok V-Day campaign, both directing and producing the show, "The Vagina Monologues," has taken up the majority of my time in the past few months. My co-producer, Chris, decided to go back to the States, leaving me to head up the campaign alone. To make sure the production didn't fall apart, I recruited a team to run all aspects of the production--outreach and local partnerships, PR and marketing (Thai and English), merchandise, University campaigns and post-performance events, and events and fundraising. As a production team, we selected a venue (we looked at about 7 in total), solidified our charity (Emergency Home, see vdaybkk.blogspot.com), set up 4 fundraising events: 1 networking party, 1 happy hour, 1 club party and 1 VIP fundraising dinner; got a ticket vendor (like ticketmaster) to take care of ticket sales; recruited local celebrities and supporters; manufactured all of our merchandise; designed all of our print material; applied for gender-based violence grants and solicited for corporate sponsorship, and many other things. Thankfully, after about two months of hard work, the production is on track and things are progressing nicely. All of the events should be a success (we had our first one last week) especially our VIP dinner which will include an auction with really spectacular items, including two piece of art from two of Thailand's most prestigious artists. Tickets are on sale and the PR has been great--our show will be featured on radio, in magazines and on TV this month and next, and things are going along smoothly.

Then, I also had to make sure the production was on track, attending rehearsals about 3-4 times a week this month and next (Feb), and getting the production details in order--thankfully, I have a phenomenal stage manager, Eff, who's been pulling a large amount of the actual production weight, getting all the technical parts of the show set up, checking over the Thai scrip to finalize the translations, organizing costume fittings with our costume designer, Marisa Baratelli, a lovely designer who makes clothes for women using only Thai silk--she will be donating all of the costumes. We had fittings this past Sunday and they look wonderful. So, the show should be a hit and we have about a month left to finalize everything and make all of the monologues even stronger. So, as you can all see, this has been the major part of my time.

Borneo, Bangkok and Luang Prabang: my mom and Mark

Next, on to other topics. My mom and Mark came to visit for Christmas and New Years and we had a wonderful time--it was so great to see them both in my new home environment, though I must admit, it made me miss them and all my friends, family and life back in the US a lot. We started off the trip in Luang Prabang, Laos, in the Mekong Delta. Luang Prabang was magical, and one of my favorite places I've been to in Asia so far--the mountains and the river made for a gorgeous natural setting, the French and French-Asian fusion food was absolutely delicious, the town was quaint and relaxed, the people were lovely,our hotel was adorable and everything we did was just perfect.

We took a long-tail boat up the river to the Pak Ou caves, which are filled with Buddhas and small shires. The trip up the river was very slow and the only unpleasant thing was the weather--it rained (even though it's not rainy season) and it was very cold. We rode elephants through the forest and got to feed them afterwards--they eat bananas without taking the peel off! I started to peel a banana when the elephant caretaker told me I could feed them with the peels on--the elephant truck deftly took the banana from my hand, as if it were a hand. We explored the many temples in the town--some of the artwork and glass mosaics were incredible. The colors were still vibrant and intact too. We enjoyed the Laotian massages and frequented the night market, which had many beautiful handy crafts, including paintings on natural paper.

Luang Prabang is a very holy city and you can see monks everywhere. Many of the paintings by the local artists featured monks as their subjects--all of them barefoot, dresses in yellow robes, some carrying umbrellas to guard from the sun. One morning, I woke up at 5AM to give alms to the monks. This consisted of going into town and sitting on the ground, on a lower level than the monks, and giving them sticky rice in their begging bowl. The monk have to use all of the alms they get and ration it out during the day. Giving alms though, isn't as easy as it sounds. The monks move at a very rapid pace, and sorting out the sticky rice in small handfuls to put in each monk's bowl is more challenging than it seems when they move so fast. There were some I wasn't quick enough to get, and then I would feel bad. I had to move so fast that I ended up giving much bigger chunks of rice and ran out of rice at the end...I'm sure the monks were fine though.

After three lovely days in Luang Prabang, we headed back to Bangkok where I could show off my new home. I took my mom to see Wat Pho and Wat Arun, my favorite wat in Bangkok. We took the river boat up so she could experience that. I was amazed how much she loved the river. She loved it so much that later, we even did a klong (canal) tour--Mark loved this too. It's funny, most people complain about the river and the klongs in Bangkok--how dirty and smelly they are, but they loved it, so this made me happy. I also showed them Siam and the vast sea of malls; the BTS--it's funny, they both love the subway in NY but hated the BTS because of all the stairs! They also didn't really understand the traffic problem....

On their second day in Bangkok, my mom and Mark came to my humble abode and saw my apartment for the first time (I have yet to post photos of it, I know, I'm on it). I also took them to my office, my favorite Thai restaurant, Kalaprapruek (pronounced "gal-a-pra-prook") and introduced them to some of my good friends and co-workers. It was fun for me to get to introduce them to people I tell them about, for them to put a face to a name. It was also fun to see them devour Thai food. The constant refrain of the two days in Bangkok were, "We can't find this kind of Thai food in New York! It's never this good!" Dinner was at another traditional Thai restaurant, of course--they couldn't get enough of it. Their last meal before they left to go home (one day stop over after their private vacation to Krabi) was also at a lovely traditional Thai restaurant with a gorgeous garden.

After two whirlwind days in Bangkok, we all set off for the last stop on my trip with them, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, in Borneo (they still had Krabi after). I was incredibly excited to go to Kota Kinabalu, but also nervous that it wouldn't live up to its expectations after Laos and Bangkok. I was expecting Borneo to be a mixture of things--rain forest meets ocean; exotic flora and fauna and opportunities for snorkeling, rain forest walks, relaxation and warm weather, kind of like northern Australia. It wasn't exactly like this, but it was still a fun time. The resort we stayed at was lovely, but it did have a very resort-y feel and was very big.

The island itself wasn't tropical--it was mountainous and hilly and filled with forests, not tropical rain forest; it was very intact though and not cut down and depressing like parts of Bali. We spent our New Years at the resort, but got to spend NYC New Years, 13 hours behind, on Mount Kinabalu, the 3rd tallest mountain in SE Asia. We also did get to do a canopy walk, but it certainly was not for the faint of heart. The hike up to the canopy was long and steep and misty; the canopy itself didn't feel so sturdy and it felt like I was walking on a tightrope suspended in a forest.

We also flew to Sandakahn, another part of Sabah, to see the orangutans and monkeys at the Sepilok Reserve and Rehabilitation Center. All of the orangutans there have been rescued, either from homes as pets or animals for show, and brought there to try and re-learn their natural survival instincts. The monkeys and orangutans were spectacular--they came right up to you and would stand so close, even to touch you. Some of the monkeys were a bit frightening and loud, others were really sweet and gentle, scared of us--these were mainly the baby orangutans. I'd never seen wildlife in this kind of setting before, so open and in their home (their natural habitat which is preserved), as opposed to at a zoo; it was a fun time and I got some fantastic photos. Other than that, we simply relaxed by the pool, read, dipped our toes in the South China Sea, something not many can say they've done; it was surprisingly warm with a strong undertow! It was a great trip, the only downside though was getting there--no direct flight so we had to have a four-hour layover in the KL airport, which is perhaps the worst airport I've seen.

After Borneo, my mom and Mark continued on to Krabi, one of the most famous beaches in Thailand, it's "jewel." They had a wonderful time filled with limestone craters, picturesque sunsets, blue waters and quiet beaches, and luxury five-star accommodations. I'm glad they had a chance to relax since the rest of the trip was very jam-packed and a bit hectic. When they came back to Bangkok for their last night, I got to see pictures from their trip, and show them a few more of my Bangkok favorites--the night market, Suan Lum Night Bazaar and then off to one last Thai meal. Saying goodbye was hard, but I only have a little over 5 months left--it's all gone by so quickly!

"The North:" Pre-Christmas trip to Chiang Rai, Thailand

I should back-track to highlight one of my other trips I took before my mom and Mark visited, my trip up to Chiang Rai, Thailand to visit my friend Theresa. This was another one of my favorite, memorable trips. I was incredibly stressed about all the V-day events things to do, but my visit to chilly northern Thailand was just what I needed to de-stress me. Chiang Rai is an adorable town that's not too developed and it was great to see some of the northern highlights with Theresa.

In Chiang Rai town, I saw some temples, the day market that sells just about everything and also the night market, where I bought a gorgeous hill tribe embroidered bag. After a day of exploring the city, Theresa took me back to her apartment and brought me to her friend Rachel's house, and when I say a house, it really was an incredible, 3-bedroom house, with a full kitchen and everything! It felt so nice and homey, and it cost a fraction of price of my entire 2-bedroom apartment in Bangkok.

My favorite part about my night at Rachel's house was that Rachel and Theresa were holding a Holiday Party for their students, so I got to meet them and talk to them. Most of the PiA posts are teaching posts, but mine isn't so my only Thai friends are those I meet through work or V-day, so not students. It was really interesting to get a glimpse into what they learn about, what they are interested in, to hear about their experiences. I think this was one of my favorite parts of my trip to Chiang Rai and I learned a lot from them. Some were a bit shy, but others were chatty and interested in me too, and Christmas and US traditions. It was nice to see this other side of an expat experience in Thailand, as a teacher.

On Saturday, we journeyed outside of town, first to Doi Tung, the agricultural and alternative livelihoods project by the Princess Mother's Royal Foundation, Mae Fah Luang, to combat opium production--it is famous in Thailand and has been used as a template by the UN for combating drug production and poverty. At Doi Tung, I got to visit the Princess Mother's house, a Swiss-style chalet with Thai astrology mixed in on the ceilings, and her royal gardens, which were in peak season in December after just blooming.

After some time in the gardens, Theresa and I continued in our rented songtaew on our hot spots of northern Thailand tour to Mae Sai, the town on the border of Burma (Myanmar). Mae Sai is a town made for shopping--jewelry, trinkets, clothing, electronics--it's overwhelming. I did buy a stunning, Thai-style ruby ring made from high quality Burmese rubies; I just hope that the rubies aren't "blood rubies" so to speak. The man who sold me my ring also gave me some phone bling, aka, a phone charm to hang on my cell phone. I feel very Thai with it now. Also at Mae Sai, I stood at the northern-most point of Thailand, saw over to the other side of the border. You can cross the border into Burma for 500B to shop to your heart's content--apparently the Burmese town is loaded with DVDs, CDs, bags, you name it. Theresa and I didn't journey over the boarder, but I am trying to plan a trip to actually journey into Burma, but that is for another time

The last stop on our tour was the "Golden Triangle," the point at which Laos, Burma and Thailand all meet. I thought this would be a pretty cool sight as I'm into borders, but it was a bit of a let down; there was a very interesting gold Buddha though. After the Golden Triangle, we continued home with our goods in tow, ready for a good meal and for some night market shopping.

On my last day in Chiang Rai, Theresa and I met up with Rachel to see the White Temple, a newly constructed temple that is entirely white with mirror pieces as mosaics. Inside the temple is a very political and controversial wall painting. The artist got the idea to build the temple from a dream he had and donated it to the people of Chiang Rai, financing it all on his own. It's quite a sight, and very different from any of the old Thai temples, in either the Siam or Khmer styles. After the white temple, we headed into one of the national parks for a short hike to a waterfall. The air was so fresh and crisp and it was really nice to be back in nature again.

The thing we were planning to do while I was in Chiang Rai was to visit and ostrich farm where visitors, for just 60B (less than $2) can ride an ostrich while wearing a SWAT vest!! Theresa had done it before and when I heard about it, I desperately wanted to ride one--who rides ostriches?! After driving and searching for the farm for over two hours, we decided to give up, head to Rachel's, bake some cookies, and curl up to watch The Tudors and later a movie. All in all, the weekend was just what I needed, and got me rested and ready for my big trip with my parents.

Coming up...

I think that that, in short, takes care of the past two months. In a few days, I'm expecting visitors--first a good friend from Princeton who will be passing through for two days, then my friend and little Kappa sister, Davion, will be in Bangkok for about 10 days (trip to Ayutthaya and Samet!) and then my friend and and big Kappa sister, Julia, will be hitting BKK to start off her grand Asia tour and we'll journey down to Khao Lak together for some R&R before V-day crunch time sets in.

Pictures coming soon!

A

Euro(work) trip--Barcelona

My time in Barcelona was absolutely fantastic--the weather was ideal and it was always sunny; the Spanish food and wine were a pleasure for the palette; I was able to speak the local language and enjoy engaging in good conversation with locals (I loved speaking Spanish again!); and, on my tiny bit of free time, I was able to walk the city, and, just as in Amsterdam, take it all in.

Although I loved the architecture in Amsterdam, there is something very special about Barcelona--it is a breathtaking city. Architecturally, I think Barcelona is my favorite city and reminded me of Paris. I think the reason Barcelona is so special and unique is it's palpable Mediterranean feel, with the water and beach right there. Also, all of Gaudi's architecture really is inspired by nature, so you feel more connected to it than you do in other urban spaces where you can forget nature exists at all. There are also an incredible amount of green spaces where you can actually forget you're in a city. Montjuic, where a lot of the Olympic facilities are is like this; as is the Parc Ciutadella. In addition, the Parc Guell feels like a Mediterranean escape, like you're actually in the country-side of Greece, not in urban Barcelona.

Like Amsterdam, Barcelona has hundreds of little streets and alleyways to explore; cafes to try, sweets to taste and fashionable shops to indulge in--I bought a gorgeous pair of leather boots. I did as much as I could when I wasn't working, though this was difficult. Running in the morning was a great way for me to explore the different neighborhoods and much more enjoyable than running on a treadmill in Bangkok.

The conference I attended was incredibly interesting, covered an array of topics in conservation like water, eco-tourism, sustainable agriculture, and also topics in energy, sustainable development (poverty alleviation) and scientific studies in biology, zoology, chemistry, economics and many many other fields. I met an amazingly diverse group of people from places like Jordan, South Africa, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Zimbabwe, the US, UK, the list goes on.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience, both personally and professionally. Here are some snapshots from my trip, enjoy!

The community space outside the conference center, "El Forum"

The reflective walls of the conference building at night

Ted Turner speaking at the conference in an ecotourism seminar--he ended up sitting right in front of me!

Sign of the conference that I attended (IUCN World Conservation Congress)

Interior of the modern, environmentally-friendly conference center, "El Forum," where I spent most of my time

Barceloneta (the beach) with a view of the Olympic Stadium statue

Boats in the harbor by Barceloneta

Building art in El Raval

Walking around in El Raval

Inside the Museum of Contemporary Art

At the end of Las Ramblas leading into Colon square near the water

The famous lizard statue at the entrance of the Parc Guell

Gaudi-style bench in the Parc Guell

Inside the Parc Guell

View from atop the Parc Guell

The Casa Mila, another Gaudi work

Looking up at the Sagrada Familia

Inside the Sagrada Familia


The stained glass in the Sagrada Familia

The whole view of the Sagrada Familia

City living in Barcelona

Las Ramblas

Las Ramblas

Interior of the Barcelona Cathedral

Gaudi architecture in L'Eixample

Euro(work) trip--Amsterdam

While working in Amsterdam, I was able to walk around the city and explore at night after work or in the early morning before my work started. Here are some snapshots from my time there. Overall, I think Amsterdam was an absolutely adorable and pleasant city that, quite frankly, I fell in love with. I certainly think I would be content and happy living there.

Although the weather was a bit of a downer, it was nice to feel the freshness of fall after hot, steamy Thailand. The food was delicious, the fashion was great, the people friendly, open and diverse. I met an incredible array of interesting people and people were willing to talk to me--a Spanish bartender approached me in Spanish; a group of Dutch women in a yoga class I was in invited me to dinner with them--people were incredibly approachable and interested to meet and talk to me, I never felt lonely even though I was traveling and spent most of my time alone.

What's also great is that Amsterdam is small enough that you can walk just about anywhere in the city--it feels like a small village. I didn't ride a bicycle because of the heavy rains, but chose to walk. It was quite refreshing, walking around a city--looking at things, taking in all in; you can't really walk in Bangkok because the sidewalks can kill and it's often too hot that you'd get sweaty. I took a tram to work, which was about 20 minutes away by tram, but each day I walked home, taking different routes, exploring different squares--Rembranstplein, Leidseplein--and neighborhoods.

Amsterdam is also incredibly beautiful--the architecture, the canals, the reflections and alleyways, tucked-away niches and cafes. It's certainly an inspiring city--an artist's oyster. Hope you all enjoy my snapshots!

Early morning sale of flowers

Canal at night

Street in the old city at night

In the Centrum by the train station

Canal by the Red Light District

The Wag

More picturesque canals

Graffiti art in the Centrum

Cafe in the Centrum


Famous Amsterdam coffee shops in the Centrum


Canals in and around the centrum

Street in the old city

Updates updates!

1. I've gotten a lot of very concerned emails and calls from friends and family about the increasingly volatile political situation in Thailand. I'm okay, everyone I know in Bangkok is okay but it has certainly caused quite the disturbance--airports are closed, people are taking ridiculous, multi-destination routes to get back into the country or to leave, but hopefully things will be resolved soon. I don't know anything other than what's on the news so can't really provide any insightful information.....

2. I have plenty of updates in other areas of my life and will be posting information shortly, including:

• Photos from my work trip to Amsterdam and Barcelona
• A brief narrative of the recent Thai holiday, Loy Krathong!
  
• Snapshots of Bangkok Thanksgiving!
• Progress of the V-Day campaign and "The Vagina Monologues"
  

That's it for now. I hope you're all well and are enjoying this holiday season!

xx
A

V-Day BKK: Check out our blog!

http://vdaybkk.blogspot.com/

We will soon be posting:

1. Cast notifications (after auditions next week)
2. Ticket and venue information
3. Ways to donate to our V-Day BKK Campaign
4. Information on V-Day BKK Merchandise

You can also check out our V-Day web page for more information: http://events.vday.org/2009/Community/Bangkok_(TVM)

Pinch Me, Take 2: Bali

My good friend from college, Christina, just came to visit me. For her visit, we planned to take a fun beach vacation. As we were brainstorming on gchat (as all good brainstorming is done), Christina suggested Bali. I was down and have always been a bit curious about Bali myself--it's one of those heavily mythologized places as an oasis of luxury and relaxation, I feel--so I thought, why not, and we booked our tickets.

Unfortunately, the start of our oasis escape wasn't so relaxing. We messed up the time of our tickets AND almost got in a very scary car accident that we missed our flight, which was definitely a bummer. It was the last flight going to Jakarta, so we would miss our early AM connection in Bali. We were so crazed in racing to the airport, getting new tickets and then collapsing in my apartment for what turned out to only be a short "nap" before our new flight (we had to leave for the airport at 3 am), that the whole episode quickly became incredibly amusing--we were two disheveled, hot messes.

Christina, disheveled, appropriately consoling herself with an ice cream

So, when we finally did make our flight to Jakarta, we rushed out of the airport to change terminals to try and catch an earlier flight to Bali--one that would only put us 5-6 hours back from our original flight instead of 10-11. Miraculously, we were able to get on the earlier flight, which was a bit delayed, so we even got Javanese massages at the airport for a totally relaxed arrival in Bali.

Our luck only got better once we landed in Bali. We hadn't arranged for a driver to pick us up from the airport to take us to our hotel and we were very nervous about getting ripped off or scammed, but thankfully, the rates to each hotel were pre-fixed, so we could rest easy. We had decided to stay at the Ritz Carlton in Jimbaran because, compared to any other Ritz in the world, this place was a bargain! Only $200 a night for a regular room! We checked in, were "laid" with gorgeous, fragrant frangipani flowers and were served a tasty tropical welcome beverage. The receptionist soon informed us that because of overbooking, we had been upgraded to a PRIVATE VILLA with a private pool, and hopefully that would be okay. We were ecstatic! We could not have gotten any luckier and thought that perhaps if we hadn't missed our flight, we would just gotten a regular hotel room.

Lay and welcome beverage--still not looking so great after the long and arduous journey

A buggy (gold cart) then took us to our villa which was absolutely stunning--not as over the top as the Four Seasons in Samui, but certainly top notch. We had a private pool, with a little pavilion and lounge chairs; we had a great bedroom with the most comfortable down pillows and comforters (the turn down service was also great and we were left the best dark chocolate in little gold Ritz Carlton wrappers); our bathroom was incredible and the bathtub was filled with rose petals and also had a great view of our surrounding garden; the living room was also lovely and stocked with fresh, local fruits that we feasted on for breakfast.

Our pool and little pavilion

Christina lounging in the pavilion

Our bedroom

View from the Bathroom

Rose petal bath

Our living room

The rest of the Ritz compound, as Christina liked to call it, was also mind-blowingly impressive. Everything was perfectly decorated with ornate Balinese statues; the flowers were in full bloom in all colors; the three pools were all exquisite--the ocean beach pool was my favorite, an infinity pool looking out over the beach; the lower pool with the water flowing from the upper pool, and with a view of the aquarium was also pretty spectacular. The restaurants were absolutely delicious--we had dinner there our first night as a treat to begin the vacation. The spa and gym was also lovely. The Ritz spa is famous for its aquatonic pool that's used for water-based massaged and relaxation. I really wanted to try the pool, but it was closed for renovation, alas. The hotel was also perfectly suited for couples and newlyweds--there was a marriage pavilion to hold weddings and also two different areas where you could have a private, candlelight dinner.

On the Ritz grounds

Flowers along one of the staircases

The lower pool

The ocean beach infinity pool

Me overlooking the beach in the infinity pool


View on the way down to the ocean beach pool


One of the fountain-statues

Me and Christina at dinner on our first night

After relaxing and hanging around the pools on our first day, we decided to take a short snorkeling trip on our second day, and in the evening, try to see the Uluwatu temple. So, after sleeping in and lounging by our villa pool, we went to make arrangements for snorkeling. I'd read that Blue Lagoon was a great place to snorkel, but the hotel suggested Nusa Dua since we only wanted a short snorkel trip; the other offering was a full-day and we didn't have time. So, we went to Nusa Dua, about 30 minutes away to snorkel. Unfortunately, it wasn't the best experience and it was our first glimpse into the environmental degradation and exploitation of natural resources that is occurring now in Bali.

Our little boat took us in very shallow waters, right over reefs--something you're not supposed to do--and we could see the boat was leaking fuel into the waters. A lot of the waters were dirty and the first spot was so bad that we insisted he take us somewhere else. We did get to a nicer spot where we saw some interesting fish and some pretty coral; I also saw a number of beautiful starfish. Even at this spot though, there was some trash in the water and there were so many boats in such a small area. It made me very sad that the people were so poor that they exploited their only means of income--snorkeling, a tourism activity. A friend of mine did go to the Blue Lagoon on a full day trip and said it was absolutely marvelous--the waters were clear and the visibility was great and the biodiversity was extraordinary. Perhaps if I go back, I'll try it out.

We returned to the hotel to relax a bit before the driver we'd arranged would pick us up to take us to see Uluwatu temple, a 1000-year old Hind temple. When our driver arrived, he actually had a guide with him too, which was great. Our driver's name was Coman and our guide's name was Made, pronounced "mah-deh." He was a very nice man and his English was very good. He told us how in Bali, the first child is always called "Wayan," the second is "Made," and the third is "Coman," so Coman, our driver was his younger brother!

Made also told us a little bit about Balinese culture, and how different is was from the rest of Indonesia. First off, the Balinese are Hindu, not Muslim like the rest of Indonesia. Also, they speak Balinese, their own language, which is very different from Bahasa Indonesian. As Made spoke, we could tell that the Balinese really identify more as "Balinese" than Indonesian, but that this was also true of the Javanese, the people of Java, and the Sulawesi, the people who live in the Indonesian part of Borneo, and people from Sumatra, etc. It was interesting because we saw many Indonesian flags, but no one said anything about being Indonesia, but more about being Javanese or Balinese etc, identifying more with their own local culture, which they believe is very different from others.

Coman and Made took us to Uluwatu just before the sunset. He warned us that we had to put all our things--sunglasses, jewelry, etc--in our bags or else the monkeys roaming the ruins would take them! He told us that the Balinese love monkeys, but that these were mischievous monkeys so we should be very careful, also with our cameras since they'd been known to steal cameras too. He also told us that if either of us were in our "female cycle," we couldn't come in the temple.

Monkey at Uluwatu

When we got to the temple, Made wrapped us in sarongs and sashes, the traditional Balinese way to go into a temple. The temple was perched on top of a huge cliff, with gorgeous views of the limestone rocks and cliffs below, and the crystal blue water. The monkeys were indeed very naughty, I saw a few playing with women's' hair clips they'd stolen or other little things. They would come out of no where and jump right next to you, startling you an throwing you off guard, but it was all part of the experience.

Overlooking the cliffs at Uluwatu

Uluwatu in the sun

1000 year old stone art at Uluwatu

As we watched the sunset, Made told us that we could watch a Cecak (pronounced ke-chak) dance, a traditional Balinese dance performed by about 80 men who act as a vocal orchestra of sorts, with a flame in the center which has a symbolic meaning, and actors who perform an old Balinese folk tale; the performance lasts for about an hour. It was interesting and certainly like nothing I'd ever seen before. The sounds the men make are very different, it sounds like a mix of a chu-chu kind of sound and heavy breathing.

Sunset at Uluwatu

More sunset

Cecak performance with the flame in the center

After the Cecak dance, Made took us to Jimbaran Bay to a fresh seafood restaurant right on the beach. It was a very nice, atmospheric place; it was actually one of many little restaurants along the beach. The restaurant was cool too because all of the fish were live and you got to pick which fish you wanted; since it was my first time eating fish, Christina kindly picked our fish and it was delicious! We also got serenaded by a cute little Balinese four-man band. They played Oasis, U2--exactly the kind of music popular over here.

Me and Christina serenaded by the Balinese beach band

The next day, Christina and I just lounged around the Ritz, soaking up our last bit of time there. In the late afternoon, we went to Kuta Beach, where we'd stay for only one night, since we heard the only reason people went to Kuta was to party and surf. When we got there, we were shocked with what we saw--it was totally overrun with people and way too overdeveloped. The traffic made Bangkok's traffic look mild and the amount of motorcycles everywhere was ridiculous. It was really sad actually, because a lot of the people in Kuta, we later learned from Made, were from Java and came to make money. As a result, a lot of the people were very aggressive, trying to sell us stuff and even touch us as we walked by to get us to go into their stores. We walked around for a bit, but thought we'd rather just go to a nice dinner and go out after.

Gasoline sold in Absolute Vodka bottles

So, we went to the Sentosa Hotel in Seminyak, which was recommended to me by a friend. Seminyak had a totally different vibe than Kuta, which just seemed like a trashier version of Cancun where 18-year olds Spring break; Seminyak was classier, still developed but not as overwhelming, and it still had an air of sophistication and class. The hotel we went to was amazing--it was designed so interestingly and the food was also very good.

The lobby of the Sentosa Hotel in Seminyak

After dinner, we decided to give Kuta a chance and head to some of the bars my friend recommended. At night, Kuta was even worse. We went to this one roof bar which was okay--it had a view of the Kuta "strip" and was filled mainly with Australians. We decided to walk around a bit to at least enjoy or make fun of some of the ridiculousness. We walked by a reggae bar which had some good live music, but was empty. Then, we walked into this absolutely ridiculous club called "The Bounty," it was out of a movie. The bottom floor had pool tables, crazy lighting, an area that would later turn into a foam party, animal prints everywhere and old wood and the waitors were dressed up as sailors. Then, we moved onto the next part of the club, upstairs and into a huge wooden ship that opened up to a dance floor, complete with a disco ball and small Indonesian men "battle break-dancing;" it was quite the scene.

Part of the dizzying Kuta strip at night

We decided to leave Kuta to head back to Seminyak after being chatted up by a group of 20-year olds and we realized we were clearly the oldest people there (granted, I'm only 22 and Christina is 24, but there's a wave of difference between a 20-year old, college partying traveler and a working young adult). The clubs in Seminyak were nicer and right on the beach, which made for a night atmosphere. One club was so old though, which was odd.

To get a cab back, we were majorly ripped off by cab drivers that band together and keep the rates high after midnight. It wasn't even that late, only about 12:30, and the drivers refused to take us for anything lower than 100,000 rupiahs (about $10) when the meter far was only 12-18,000 rupiahs. We gave our driver 50,000 and he yelled at us but we thought it was generous since the meter was only at 15,000; Christina got so sad she made us go into a German restaurant to eat a pretzel until he was gone. So, needless to say, our fore into Kuta wasn't too successful if you go to Bali, avoid it!

The next morning we had a delicious traditional breakfast provided by our hotel--a banana pancake sprinkled with lime and honey, and fresh fruit--and waited for Made and Coman to pick us up to take us to Gunang Kawi, ancient ruins up in the rice paddies of central Bali; Telalangang, the area with rolling, famous rice terraces; and to Ubud where we would end our trip.

The whole day trip was amazing. It was the first day I felt like we were in the mythic island paradise that I'd always thought Bali was. Driving up to Ubud, through the island, we passed a number of villages, including one Batik and wood carving village and another village, Celuk, where the people were metal workers, making beautiful gold jewelry (much of it was very expensive). On the drive up though, before we got into the heart of the island, we did pass many villages where again we saw signs of environmental exploitation--huge piles of wood, piled 5 feet high along hundreds of meter of road. Made told us that most of the wood came from Java, not Bali, but it was still deforested from somewhere...

Our first stop on the day trip were the ruins of Gunung Kawi, also over 1000 years old, which were awesome, with these enormous stone carvings set into huge rock slabs. Our guidebook said that it was rumored that these carvings were done in a day, but it just didn't seem possible. Gunung Kawi was also a temple. We had to climb a good number of steps to get down to it--it was situated in this valley with a river running through it, surrounded by rice terraces, where the local people farmed, but did not live because it is a protected area. The temple was so quiet and peaceful, it was a very enjoyable experience.

Our guide, Made and Christina on the way down to Gunung Kawi

Me and Christina by the stone carvings at Gunung Kawi--you can tell how big they are!

After leaving the temple, we went into Telalangang, not too far away to go to a few stopping points. Made let us out at two lovely points where he told us to go and sit and "meditate." It was very relaxing looking at the terraces, but looking at them, your eyes would get lost, unable to look at just one. The sad part about this part of our day was that the viewpoints we were taken to were in tiny, extremely poor villages and many children and women would crowd around us trying to sell us postcards or little crafts; it was often hard to walk around them, to move them out of the way, which was definitely overwhelming, the amount of poverty that caused them to be so aggresive.

Rice terraces in Telalangang

One of the men working in the rice terraces in Telalangang selling palm hats

After the rice terraces, we headed into Ubud towards our hotel. Ubud was honestly the most adorbale town I've seen in all of Asia. It had tons of art shops, artsy boutiques, adorable cafes, spas and hippy-venues like palm or chakra reading. Before dropping us at our hotel, Made took us to the Monkey Forest, which is a forest filled with more monkeys! Made told us these monkeys were nicer, though they were certainly fiesty! The jumped on some people, posed for pictures, ate bananas with their hands, and put on shows for the tourists.

Art in Ubud

Entertaining monkeys in Monkey Forest

As the day was coming to a close in the late afternoon, Made and Coman dropped us off at our hotel and we bid them farewell. They were both so nice and definitely made our trip to Bali very special. We gave them a generous trip because Made was trying to start a family and Coman's wife was about to give birth to their second child!

Our hotel in Ubud was adorable--it was very authentic, situated IN a rice paddy and it had two nice pools overlooking the paddies, one freshwater and one saltwater, which was also built in the infinity pool style. Our bungalow was also very cute with an ornately decorated Balinese Batik door and a nice fountain in front.

Our bungalow in Ubud

We settled in, got some dinner, and wandered around the town and later had dessert before heading in at about 8pm for a swim in the saltwater pool. Ubud is incredibly quiet and relaxing, and everything shuts down between 10 and 11pm, so it's a great place for a getaway or a yoga retreat. In fact, there are many yoga and spa retreats in Ubud (this is where the author of "Eat Pray Love" went in Bali). And, before going to bed, we made spa appointments for the morning before leaving, definitely something to look forward to.

Cute cafe in Ubud

The next morning, we headed to the spa at our hotel for two-hour treatments. First I had a 15-minute foot reflexology which was interesting, then I had a 45 minute Balinese massage, which was amazing, not nearly as hard as a Thai massage. After that I had a body scrub, following by a milk bath treatment. Then, I got to soak in a flower bath for about 20 minutes and then sit in a jacuzzi for another 20 while I sipped sweet ginger tea. The entire package was $40...damn good deal!

So, thoroughly relaxed, we headed back to the airport to begin our journey back to Bangkok! It was a great vacation, the longest one I've taken while here (5 days) and it was the first trip that really felt like a vacation, not just trekking around to see interesting things. I think part of that was because we stayed at nicer places than I usually stay in. All in all, it was a great trip and I would go back (just not to Kuta!); I still didn't get to see the volcano at Mount Batur, the floating temple, or some of the other things, so perhaps one day!