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Bali
Drawn by 750 fully formed horsepower we battered our way through the waves from Meno to Bali in 2 in a speed boat for 2 hours. Susan had to take a sickness pill and fell asleep missing our arrival under the looming presence of volcano mount Angung.
The first thing that strikes us about Bali is that it is different to the countries that we have been to before. They plant palm trees along the side of the rice fields. They burn straw in the fields in in the evening. But it is the architecture that is really striking - it's like living in Angkor Wat style. There are stone statues and shrines everywhere. The walls and houses are elaborately decorated with carved stone. The villages look like graveyards, every house has a shrine and statues and what appear to be grave stones. We thought we were passing an enormous graveyard yesterday but after it had gone on for about 10 miles we realised that it couldn't be.
The people of Bali are mostly Hindu (Islam is the official religion) but it seems to be quite different from Indian Hinduism. The last few days have been the Balinese Holiday of Galungan which occurs every 210 days and lasts 10 days. Hindus return to their ancestral village to give offerings to, and dance with, those who have gone before. All of the shrines were freshly decorated with new golden cloth, the statues are wearing fresh gingham sarongs, and everything looks very colourful. Every village has decorated their streets with long bamboo poles which curve over at the end. From the tip, and all the way up the poles, hang long, palm leaf decorations. The effect is very attractive. At one point we were fortunate to come across a congregation emerging in their hundreds from a village temple. The ladies were dressed in traditional costume and carried offerings on their heads, probably to have as lunch.
Our hotel is at the opposite end of the size spectrum to that of Gili Meno. it would have about 1100 guests when full but is only at 39% capacity at present. The hotel is built in Bali style but on a massive scale. The foyer is like a palace, built of wood with open sides. Everywhere there are huge traditional stone carvings of gods, daemons and village life. Wonderful displays of orchids and lilies decorate this internal space and there are numerous settees and beds to rest the weary traveller. Only the pool table strikes a discordant note. ( 3 - 1 to me in the present series.)
Everything about the hotel is on the grand scale and the gardens are a triumph of hydraulic engineering in balance with nature. Around every corner there is another fountain and a delight for the eye.
The hotel has a prime beachfront location with golden sands sloping down to the wild sea. The waves are coming at us all the way from Australia and surfers are making the most of massive breakers that fling themselves up the beach to catch out the unwary.
After a day at the beach we were in need of an adrenalin fix so we booked up for white water rafting on the Angung river which had 33 sets of grade 2 and 3 rapids to be negotiated over a 9 km stretch of river. It was a new experience for us and after a bit of nervousness over the first couple of water falls we were soon paddling like crazy. We were nearly out of the boat once when it hit a rock halfway down a rapid and spun round so quickly that the centrifugal force nearly had us out. The river wound its way through a very steep sided gorge. There were 600 steps to get down to the boats and another 300 to climb out again at the end. The tropical forest was absolutely magical and we were able to enjoy it as we drifted down the quieter parts of the river.
Our last adventure, before we start our long journey home on Tuesday, was a 25 km cycle ride down the side (outside) of a volcano. The volcano last erupted in 1984 so we felt relatively safe. We were driven up to a view point were we would have had spectacular views of 2volcanos and a lake if everything hadn't been shrouded in mist. Having been kitted out with crash helmets and severely warned not to use the right hand brake we set off downhill through ancient villages and fertile farmland. Stopping frequently to look at crops, chat to locals, wave to men up trees, inspect clusters of spiders, photograph temples, look into houses and pat babies on the head, we arrived at an elephant sanctuary for lunch. This was no ordinary elephant sanctuary, this was personally endorsed by Tony Blair and by Steve Irwin before he became the only human to have been stabbed through the heart by a sting ray.
Anyway, there was a 7day old baby elephant to be cooed over in practice for events later in the month. So sweeeeeeeeet! Later a troupe of performing 5 to 7 year olds stood on their hind legs, played the harmonica and failed to kick a ball into an empty net having beaten the defence.
Tomorrow we head west. Pausing in Singapore, Dubai, Kilsyth and Cumbernauld before pitching up in Inverness on Sunday 7th.
- comments
Sandra We've booked the tee at Carrbridge for 11am on Tuesday! See you then? Sandra x
Robin We'll be there in our shorts! Robin xx