It was exactly what I expected. A bunch of die hard Formula One fans that get a huge thrill over seeing fast cars. I have to say though, it was definitely worth experiencing. The cars would go by so fast, I could barely blink once. They were so loud that it was almost essential to buy a pair of ear plugs (maybe except if you are Mehdi haha). I have to admit it was quite the experience even for someone like me, who has never been or ever desired to go see a car race. Also, the track looked absolutely beautiful at nighttime from the Helopad bar above it.
The next morning we were off to Bali. Xander, Mehdi and I met the rest of the gang down in Bali, who had left two days earlier than us. When we got there, we were off to Uluwata Temple. The temple was at a high altitude looking out onto an endless body of water. We just sat there as the waves crashed against the rock. This is also where we were first introduced to the monkeys in Bali. For such cute animals, they were quite vicious and very mischievous. The monkeys tried to snag anything in their site, from a flip-flop to sunglasses to even cameras. The trainers would then retrieve the stolen belongings by exchanging them with a banana. As the sun was setting, we watched an authentic fire dancing performance on the rocks looking out into the ocean. A group of Balinese tribe men created music with their voices throughout the entire performance. I didn’t understand how their voices could continue their chants for a whole hour, it was unbelievable. The Balinese performers were in exotic costumes with glamorous make-up as they performed old Hindu tales. Later that night, we decided to get a taste of the Kuta nightlife. There were endless bars, all with bright rave lights and loud music. We just picked the place that had the loudest music and danced(or RAGED, as we call it) the whole night away!
The next morning we woke up early and headed for Ubud, Bali. We found an amazing guesthouse on Monkey Forest Road for just $10 a night. It had our own bathroom, balcony, a pool and included breakfast. We spent the day gallivanting up and down Monkey Forest Road, where every restaurant was beautifully decorated. The shops had vibrant and beautiful souvenirs. We then went to the Monkey Forest Sanctuary that was just up the street. Monkey Forest described the site perfectly since it consisted of Hindu temples and a whole lot of monkeys. The night ended quite early, as Ubud is not as lively and upbeat as Kuta. I would describe it as the perfect Honeymoon destination.
The next day, we decided to do the Elephant Caves and the Gunung Kawi. The Elephant Caves were quite the site to see with water fountains, endless forest trails, tall trees and a beautiful forest covered stream with plentiful rocks and waterfalls. Next we headed to Gunung Kawi, which is an astonishing group of stone shrines cut into cliffs. It is currently being considered as Unesco Heritage site. Along with the stone cliffs were beautiful rice terraces and a viewpoint that looked over the entire site. Palm trees, vibrant flowers, rice terraces, carved stone hedges…you can’t really ask for more.
Instead of going to bed that night, we decided to campout outside of our hostel until 2 in the morning, which was the time we got picked up for the Mount Batur hike in the Gunung Batur volcanic area. The crater of Mount Batur is the central point in the area, estimated to be 13 square km size. The ride over to the mountain was literally a zig-zag down steep mountains. The driver was probably going no more than 10 miles per hour, because if he went any faster, we would have fallen off the cliff (and of course there is no road guards to prevent such a thing from happening). When we got there it was pretty chilly and pitch black. I have never seen the stars so bright. The view was spectacular, I felt like I was in space. The hike up the mountain was a little bit of a struggle with just a tiny flashlight leading the way, but we made it. We soon realized we were not well prepared for the freezing temperatures at the top of the mountain. Rather, we thought it was a good idea to hike the mountain in our tight lulu lemon spandex shorts and a light sweater. After huddling up and gathering warmth from one another, the sun rose. We ate our bread with bananas and boiled eggs while taking in the breathtaking view. We then hiked to the top of the crater, where I actually felt like I was at the peak of the world. We were able to look out onto all of Bali and the beautiful Lake Batur that surrounded us. Because the volcano is still active, we could see the steam coming out of the air sockets of the mountain. The locals used the steam to boil their eggs. The hike up may have been a little strenuous, but the hike down was much more scary. With loose rocks, sand and numerous divots, we had to be careful not to slip. It almost was like skiing on sand at some points. Luckily, we made it down safe and sound. After all that exercise, we ended our trip to Bali by going into the local town to eat some authentic food. We found a home restaurant, where the local chef made us Indonesia’s famous Nasi Goreng from scratch. Nasi Goreng is their National dish that consists of fried rice with an egg on top. Always a good way to end a good trip…a good plate of authentic food. Yumm. Bali was only the first stop of our reading week…next stop on our journey was Lovina, Java, and Jakarta.
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