Bali

A long over due piece I know! We spent November in Bali and my initial thought is that it was far more different to Thailand than I expected in terms of its experience as a tourist. Obviously there are cultural differences, but Bali, as a Western tourist, is much more recognizable and easier to navigate than Thailand. In Thailand I felt like I seldom recognised brands, food or found English speakers, where as Bali felt far more global with many common European and American brands, and many people speaking basic (and often good) English.

In the UK we like to talk about the weather. A lot. Well, in Bali there really was weather worth talking about, as we were entering into the rainy season, while at the same time there was a hurricane just off the coast, and Mount Agung was busy erupting on the other side of the island from us.

The volcano did not impact us at all, although it hit the local population across the island very hard - either directly in the east through damage, or indirectly across the island by killing the tourist industry for the season. Apparently Ugne and I were largely alone in thinking that it was a good idea to visit a small island with an erupting volcano.

The rains were very impressive though - typical hot and humid days resulting in enormous thunderstorms in the evening. I don't know how much water came down, but it was like standing under a waterfall. The roads and pathways quickly became rivers deep enough to appear on a map in some countries. Our scooter on more than one occasion was more a jet-ski, with the floor panel running beneath the water level and me wondering exactly how deep we could run before the engine attempted to be a swimming pool pump and expired.

We made two trips through to Ubud to explore the town and surrounding areas. The art work and furniture we thought was really beautiful, and I would love to return one day to furnish a house. First we need a house though. Anyway... Along with the art, we loved visiting Monkey Forest (see previous post) and exploring the Gunung Kawi temples (also pictured above)...

We did a fair amount of riding around the island, mainly exploring up the east coast, with beautiful rice paddies along the way. The beaches and ocean are not often visible, tucked away behind tree lines and villages, but are beautiful once you are on them.

We had a delicious cooking class at Maria's Cooking Class, which I would highly recommend. Maria collects you from where you are staying, takes you to the market to pick ingredients and then back to her house to learn how to make a range of Indonesian dishes from across the islands. I think what I liked most about the course is that it is at her home - you won't be in a fancy hotel kitchen, rather you are chopping vegetables on her kitchen table, grinding spices on a stone mortar and cooking outside on a gas stove. Her recipes are very, very tasty and she gives each attendee a book of recipes with literally dozens of local recipes she has gathered from all over Indonesia.