BALI, INDONESIA

I finished my exams in the first week of finals, so I figured it would be best not to disturb everyone else who still had another weeks of exams. So, I took a shot 3 day holiday to Bali. It was quite wonderful to say the least. Below is a recap of the adventures, if you don't like so many words there's more pictures on facebook that can sum it up for you. And fyi less than 10 days till I'm back in the US, a very bitter sweet countdown.

Bali Day 1

My first day in Bali I went into the city Kuta, about 2 hours from my hotel in Ubud. It was a tourist city, I figured being in a tourist area my first day in a forgien country by myself might be a good idea. I did a little shopping, mainly pirated DVDs. I was a little scared of crossing the streets by myself, I definitely stopped, looked and listened very carefully and there are motorbikes everywhere and traffic laws are obsolete. Lunch at a nice (by Bali standards) restaurant cost me $4, for a bottle of water, fanta and whole pizza! However when you're in a country where most people only make about $2.50/ day I guess $4 is a lot.

After I got tired of walking around, I walked into a couple of the hotels and relaxed by their pools =) Not sure if I was allowed to let myself into their hotels but I did. After a little r&r by various pools and a walk along the beach I got a $6 hour and a half massage. I think Bali is definitely cheaper than Mexico!

Then back to the hotel for dinner. My hotel was very nice, in the middle of no where with a view of the forest and the big volcano just peaking over the hill. Each room was it's own little hut, with a porch overlooking the pool. Not bad at all for $20/ night. The staff was very accomodating and helped set up where to go, and what to see and do.

Bali Day 2

Day two was a 2 hour bike ride from the volcano Butar, back to the hotel. It was quite nice I had my own personal tour guide, Dewa. We started by having breakfast at a little restaurant near the volcano. It had a gorgeous view, pretty sure I was either in a postcard or a movie! Breakfast was traditional fried bananas and tea. The bananas were heaps good, not sure if I've seen fried banana on a stick at the state fair, although they probably have it somewere.

Then we went to a coffee farm. I got to see and pet a water buffalo, not sure if I've ever gotten to pet one before so we'll add that to a new adventure. He showed me the civets, a cat that they make eat the coffee berries, then when they poop out the beans they collect it and make coffee out of it. It's very expensive coffee, I know there's a place in Perth that sells it for about $100 a cup! for poop coffee! The picture is a man roasting beans the traditional way, I learned on thhe bike ride the modern was it to put the beans in the middle of the street on a tarp, eventhough the cars and motorbikes run over them.

Then our bike ride started, the bikes were for Balinese sized people so not the most comfortable, but the route was pretty much downhill so I used the brake way more than the pedals. The guide showed me pretty much every temple and rice patty we passed that had workers. Which is quite a lot considering that every little village has 3 temples and everyone has a rice patty. It was fun to see what I was told was "real" Bali, away from the tourist areas. I got to see how they made the walls of their houses, traditional wedding decorations and knife making. I was also very glad to be on the back roads where there wasn't really any traffic. We rode on a main road for about 2km and I was a little afraid for my life. We went to a house for a traditional Balinese lunch and then back to teh hotel for a relaxing afternoon by the pool. I realized at night that 3 hours in the Bali sun and no sunscreen can leave you with some pretty wicked tan lines.

Bali Day 3

On the third day in Bali I went into the city of Ubud, about 30min from my hotel. My first stop was the monkey forest! Pretty much the only thing on my to do list while in Bali. On the way there my driver, Dewa, warned me that if you bring bananas the monkeys will jump on you and steal them all at once, and not to wear a hat, glasses or earings because they like to steal them. Of course I got some bananas, but I hid them and only took a couple out at a time. At first the monkeys running at me was a little bit scary when you can see the oh so sharp teeth, I made the lady that worked there show me how to give them the bananas, instead of my version of just throwing them at the monkeys. The monkey with the banana is one that I fed!





After I got used to the monkeys being EVERYWHERE, it was fun to watch them and explore. The baby monkeys were the absolute best! I was a little afraid of stepping on one of the babies and making mom mad. There was one monkey fight ovre bananas while I was there, it scared all of us tourists and we all ended up in a huddle in the middle, covering our heads scared they were going to start falling out of the trees.










After the monkey forest I wandered the nearby streets for a couple hours. Mainly looking at the markets resisting buying anything because I would have to get it all home some how. However just about everything had lizzards, so of course I had to get something for mom. After the market my driver picked my up and I went back to the hotel for a relaxing afternoon. Then it was dinner, bedtime and back to Australia the next morning.

Today marks 20 days until I am back in MN, it's a very happy/ sad milestone. I am oh so excited to see you all again, yet oh so sad to have to leave paradise. Let's see what adventures have there been since my last post...

Last day of classes was also one of my flatmates from Malaysia's birthday. She had a big party at our flat, we helped her cook heaps of food. It was a very fun night.

Next night was the KV (Kurrajong Village, where I live) end of semester river boat cruise. That was heaps fun. We all got dressed up and had a little cruise up and down the Swan River. First time one of the Malaysians came out with us, so that was a bonus.

We then had a week to study, I spent the entire week writing a paper for my Australian Gov't and Politics class, one I will not be sad to be over. I've finally started studying for my finals, of course I started after the study week but it's all good. I almost forgot how to study since it hasn't really been all that necessary with the classes I'm taking. Next semester will be sure to be a shock when I get back to engineering classes =(

Well I guess I should stop further procrastination of my studies and go to bed. Hope to see you all soon!

Today is the last day of class, YEA! It's a nice sunshiney day perfect for not studying. It is also my flatmates birthday, last night I helped chop vegetables for stew for 40 people, my hands will forever smell like onion! Not sure how security is going to feel about 40 people in the flat, luckily it's not my party.

Tomorrow night is a river boat cruise for our village/ dorm place. Should be pretty fun! Then it's a week of studying for my 2 finals the next week. And then after this oh so stressful semester I'll be taking a short holiday to Bali. Maybe take an adventure through the monkey forest or go on an elephant safari or bike ride to the volcano. Oh the decisions one has to make in life.

Hope all is well back in the states, I'm getting very excited to see everyone again, even though I'll be oh so sad to leave here.

So not a whole lot going on Down Under in the past week. The old routine of some school and some fun. Probably the most eventful thing was a walk to the city. I decided I wanted to finally check out the path that run along the train tracks to the city. According to the sign when I got on the path it was 7.5km to the city plus however far it was to the train station once I got to the city, which took me about 2 hours to walk, I stopped for some pictures along the way. So I finally got a couple pictures of the famous WA black swans, they're the symbol for WA and I hadn't seen one up close figure it was part of the full WA experience. Once to the city I took the train/bus back home =)

I've got classes until the 29th of May, a week to study, 2 weeks of finals/ vacation to Bali, and a week to pack. Then my time machine adventure home will be the 27th of June. Crazy there's only about a month left of paradise, but I can't wait to see you all at home!