Bali Eco Cycling

Ubud is where we are supposed to find the "cultural" Bali, as opposed to the nightclubs and surfing that goes on in Kuta, the other town in Bali where tourists go.  There are two mains streets here, but it sprawls on from those streets, and on the streets are shop after shop after shop whose owners stand outside hoping you'll come in and buy something.  If you pause, or stop to look, you'll be lured in and if you touch something they start describing it to you, telling you what it is and how much it costs.  I don't love to shop, but I do enjoy looking at all the stuff - it's overwhelming how much stuff there is and how pushy the shopowners are.  That said, when you do buy something (and negotiate down to a price lower than initially stated), the shop keepers are very happy and thankful to you for helping their business.

The constant traffic is so different from peaceful Gili Air!  We saw advertising for Eco Bali Touring - on bicycles! - and thought this would be a great way to see Bali without so much tourism in the way.  Bali's culture is kind of buried in the shops and restaurants.  Here's a link to the tour we took, the description is very accurate.
http://www.baliecocycling.com/cycling-tour/

Our guide was Joe, he did a great job of telling us about Bali and  Bali culture, the Hindu traditions and answered many of our questions about what we'd seen in the town.  There were 10 of us on bikes, mostly Dutch people and us.  First we rode in a van up to the top of the mountain and had breakfast.

Then we stopped at a plantation and learned about growing and processing coffee, especially this special coffee which starts off by having civets (a cat-like creature) eat the coffee beans, which are then "processed" and gathered from the forest floor, cleaned, separated, and roasted.  They say this coffee is $30/cup in Europe?  We had a cup for $3.00.

 

Roasting the beans

Tasting the coffee.  And sampling more.  We had Ginseng coffee, hot chocolate, "female" coffee (uses the "female" beans), Arabica coffee, ginger tea, lemon grass tea.

 

We also sampled fruits:  salak, passion fruit, mango, papaya.  Then, after a visit to the gift shop, we were taken to our bikes and we started riding.

First stop.  This mosque is preparing for a celebration, there's a list of events, the decorations are up.

 

The men are preparing the chicken satay.  Those baskets are full of chicken bits, the men are threading them onto sticks.  

Inside a family compound.  This is their temple.

This is Joe, we're stopping at a rice paddy.

Bali

 

After a two hour boat ride on rather rough seas, Bali comes into view.  We landed at Padangbai.

A shuttle took us to Ubud.  We did not have lodging, so we asked the driver for a suggestion.  He said his friend has a place.  Here is where we're staying, upstairs, overlooking the pool.

First thing after checking in, was to stroll up the street and look at the sights.

These flowers are everywhere. 

 The streets are narrow, and everyone drives motorbikes.  As we walk along, there are men offering rides to us.  "Taxi?"  "Transport?"

The shrines are usually draped, I guess for modesty.

This picture was taken while sitting on our porch drinking morning coffee.  Several monkeys were running around on the roofs of the bungalows.  The staff did not like this and brought out a slingshot to chase them away.  Monkeys are fun to watch, but I didn't really care for it when one ran along the back of the bench we were sitting on.

 

Thursday morning:  a visit to the Monkey Forest.   This guy looks okay.  But I've decided that monkeys are kind of creepy when they start following you around and reaching into your pocket.

A Shrine in the Monkey Forest

 

Offerings like this are everywhere:  on the streets, in front of doors, on posts, on cars...

 

 

All of the above are from Wednesday and Thursday.  Friday (today) we took a day long cycling trip.  It's kind of slow posting pictures tonight, so I'll be back later with pictures of an amazing trip through the "real" Bali. 

More pictures from Gili Air

 

Mode of transportation

Morning tea, brought to our porch by Aaron, the man in charge.

One morning he brought us each a local treat, wrapped in a banana leaf.

Here's the unwrapping- ahah!  A rice cake!

 

Boat building

Boat painting

Avocado juice - note the chocolate drizzle.  Yum.

Boys on a boat.  This is where we snorkeled.

Sunset

 

Getting ready to leave Gili Air.  It's raining...

Here's the boat that will take us to Bali! To board the boat, there is a ladder extended off the front end.  We don't know why it didn't pull over to the pier.

Tropical Paradise

 

Standing outside the FM7 Hotel, Jakarta

 

Same place, different people

 

Jakarta Airport, Saturday morning.  Our tour guide decided Jakarta is not worthwhile, so we're off for a real adventure!  Boarding and flying to...

 

Arrival at Mataran, Lombok.  The plane was packed full. Gathering luggage was crazy, but while we did that Sarah lined up a car and driver to take us north, through villages and jungle.   At one point, our driver offered to stop and let us take pictures of the monkeys.

 

So we did.

 

So here's where our driver took us and after a bit of rangling, we jumped onto a 16' speedboat with an 85 horsepower Yamaha outboard motor,

 

And off we sped

 

Sarah said I looked terrified...I didn't feel terrified.  I think it was more like overwhelmed.  We arrived at Gili Air harbor, and our luggage was loaded onto a horsecart, and off we clopped to look at potential bungalows to rent.  Here's what we settled on.

 

We even have a/c!  We were all three going to stay here but Aaron, the owner, came and gave us a one-time offer of the next door bungalow for Sarah at a substantial discount.  

 

Sarah's is the first one, ours in the middle.  I think the owner lives in the third one.  We haven't seen much of him since we checked in.  That night, he offered us tea, coffee, or beer.  We all said "beer", and he sent someone off on a bicycle to get cold frosty Bintang beer, brewed in Indonesia.  Three big bottles and three mugs.  There are no motorized vehicles on this island.

 

Sunday morning, David and I walked around the little island of Gili Air.  The people are very friendly, holloring out "hello" when we pass.  Many horse/cart drivers offered their services.  The leisurely walk was just what we needed after days of travel on planes/car/boat.

 

Rice, boiled water spinach, tofu and a peanut sauce.  Very tasty!

 

This is where I'm sitting right now as I upload these pictures.  In a cabana on the beach, we just had a breakfast of waffle with fruit, (more like a thick crepe, very good) and coffee.  It's cloudy and there's a nice breeze.  I have no idea what the temperature is, maybe 80?  When the sun comes out, it feels hot but right here, right now, I'd say it's pretty perfect.