Visit to the Bat Cave...temple

Cockadoodle Doo!  Our morning alarm clocks here are the roosters -  just like clockwork, they crow with the rising sun.  Actually roosters here seem to crow at all times of the day, starting at sunrise and then throughout the day until sunset.  

After we enjoyed our morning ritual shower in the fresh air (the showers were outdoors) we sat down to a hearty Indonesian breakfast of Nasi Goreng with pickled veggies, hot sauce, and cappuccino (substitute Indonesian banana crepe pancakes, fresh fruit, and papaya juice for those under 30 years of age).  We were easily entertained by all the exotic butterflies, dragonflies, bees, frogs, and salamanders flying, jumping, and crawling in every direction.

This morning's itinerary: attend a Barong dance - a cultural Balinese dance narrating the fight between good and evil.

 

The orchestra - Chris thought the sounds to be beautiful and soothing.  I, on the other hand, feel that the music is best described as a group of kids with wind-chimes, pot and pans, and whistles - all trying to play at the same time.  It did, however, lend itself to the atmosphere and within that context, I did enjoy it.  I will, however, think twice before purchasing it as my ringtone for my phone.

Rangda, the evil queen - ha, ha, ha

Here comes Lion Barong: protector spirit

As you can probably guess, the Barong brings the smack down on Rangda; the evil queen is smoten.  Good and justice prevails - hooray.

After the performance, off for some more temple sight-seeing.

Pura Goa Lowah (Bat Cave Temple):

 

Here is the temple alter - wait a minute, let's take a closer look at the back wall of that cave...

Bats - of course, hence the name (Bat Cave Temple)!

Strike a pose!  Most woman do not carry bags and instead choose to balance everything on their head.  We saw woman 3 stacks high and others carrying massive bags of rice - all with no hands!

All that food reminds us that it is lunch time.  Today we were in for a real treat, Norman took us to a favorite local's hangout.  Norman schooled us when we asked him what the restaurant was called, he told us restaurants are for tourists, locals eat at warungs.  This warung was called "Warung Lesehan".  Dirty plastic table clothes and massive swarm of flies around the tables.  I can do this, I can do this...

Norman ordered for us.  Minutes later, the plastic tablecloth was adorned with plates of goodies.  Norman walked us through everything, sprinkle the coconut oil and chili sauce over rice, add the garlic fried peanuts, and enjoy with the different fish satays.

As the only non-Balinese customers, all eyes on us.  Crisis adverted once we took a bite and gave the "yum" face.  This was the best Balinese food!
Here is the look of a satisfying meal.  The 4 of us were stuffed full and the total bill came to $11.00 US dollars!

Norman with dessert - the sweetest most aromatic green mangos

Random street shot - the standard stray dogs, roosters, debris, and garbage

Goa Gajah Temple (the elephant cave temple) - built where two rivers meet:

At the bathing pools

 

Cleansing from the holy water

Entrance to the Elephant Cave

 Inside, the cave was once used by Yogis - Jay strikes his best ninja-yoga pose

At these temples, there are 3 waterfalls used for showering:

Like our sarongs?  These are required while visiting temples.

Norman and JJ

 J trying out Mother Nature's shower

Banyan Tree Roots

Chris wanted to purchase a traditional wood carving - off to our last stop of the day, the city of Mas.

The men perform the carving and the woman sand and polish

This man is putting on the finish coats on the mask - to protect and bring out the color of the wood
 

Barong Mask sitting on our mantel

Temples, Rice Paddies, Lakes, and Monkeys

Driving here is crazy and chaotic!  There are few traffic lights and traffic signs, speed limits - what's that? , the solid yellow line that screams, "Do Not Cross!" - in Bali, is only a mere suggestion (or more like a dare).  Cars veer into the opposing lane to pass, even in face of oncoming traffic.  It is a game of chicken.  All the while, scooters with families of 5 weave past - so close that you feel your personal space being violated.  It was surreal, at times we felt as if we were contestants on the game show, "The Amazing Race".   Thankfully, we booked a professional driver - Norman, for the next couple of days to navigate this madness! 

First we visited Pura Tanah Lot - built for worshiping the God of the Sea:

 

Next lunch over looking the beautiful green and lush rice paddies:

 Jay was in love with all the stray kitties

(mama was terrified of all the stray fleas)

After our tummies were full, we visited Pura Besakih - on the slope of Mount Agung (the highest volcano on Bali island):

 

En route, we spied with our little eyes - a group of hungry monkeys.  There was a woman selling plantains and peanuts and a small group of tourists feeding these animals.  Jayden really wanted to feed them, so against my better judgement - "monkey see, monkey do".    

 

 

These suckers can get quite aggressive, as Chris found out when trying to feed one of the babies.  Mama monkey was overprotective and came running up to hiss and bare her teeth at my husband (or perhaps she was flashing him a smile and hitting on him).  Either way, it was time to go!

Last stop of the day - Twin Lakes:

 

And that was our first day in Bali, I am exhausted just blogging about it! 
For those back home, Happy Halloween! 

Bali & Lombok Adventure

"Salam" from Indonesia!

My cuzzy is getting married in Bali (the infamous Uncle Jeff), and so begins the adventure!  The start of our journey was long; logging 21 hours of flight time just to get to the Denpasar airport (not factoring drive times, layovers, and wait-times).  Luckily, we were now seasoned travelers and able to endure like pros.  We slept, we ate, we watched movies, we played games - it was a welcomed chill-out time, the calm before our whirlwind-trip storm.  Now, don't get me wrong, we were as relieved as anyone once the cabin crew announced that we had arrived to our destination and we looked out the window to see...the airport.  OK, pretty standard stuff but this was the airport in Bali!  As our planes doors opened, we were blasted in the face pleasantly greeted by hot air and sauna-like humidity.  Jayden became all excited stating it smelled like the Disneyland ride, "Pirates of the Caribbean" - yes, on vacation it is associated to the smell of adventure (normally - humidity and mildew).  Let the ("a-hem") adventure begin!

First stop - the city of Kerobokan, just a few minutes away from Seminyak and Kuta.  Here are some random pictures of us settling in:

 getting acquainted with the pool

 mmm...Bali Koppi (coffee)

 when in Bali...

 

bees are as big as your thumb

salamander silhouette

J.J.'s new shorts

My mom gave Jayden a new pair of army inspired shorts.  Yesterday morning, Jayden came into my bedroom wearing these camouflage shorts and says to me, "Mama, these shorts are sooo cool.  You know why?".  I thought to myself, my son must have found the ammo holder (pockets for individual gun shells/bullets).

Jayden points to the ammo holder and excitedly exclaims, "Look at how many pencils I can carry!".