May 31, 2010 - Day 3 - Bali

The day began early as our guide was picking us up at 7:30 and we needed to be fed and ready to go! As we exited our room, we realised how beautiful the area was and wished for more time there. We saw two snails before we even made it to breakfast!

We started off for our adventure with the first stop at the local market so we could see how the people shop each day. The market opens at 4 am for the locals! By 8 when we arrived it was pretty well picked over. You can buy any kind of food there from fish to chickens to veggies...you name it!

Then to the rice patties. The Balinese are excellent farmers and have built magnificent rice terraces in many locations. When the light is right, these are lots of fun to photograph!

From there we headed North to see the volcano. It was a bit foggy/cloudy, but it lifted some before we had to leave that area. The volcano last erupted in 1973 and there were still signs of its destructive force!

We then headed through the countryside to see the scenery and along the way we saw a sign for a waterfall. So - why not?! We stopped, paid our 10,000 rupiah ($1) each and headed in to see the falls. We began down a set of stairs...and then more stairs and more stairs until we had descended about 1000 feet to the floor of the rain forest! All the way down, thinking, have I bit off more than I can chew? It was worth the climb!

After the hike, we continued through the country side and ultimately ended up at a restaurant overlooking some exquisite rice patties. We ate on the veranda...another tasty meal.

After that we headed off to try to see the fruit bats. Unfortunately, we got skunked on this one because it began to pour as only it can pour in a rain forest. We saw them briefly, but only got off a few shots. The we stopped at a beach for the sunset, but didn't stay too long as it was very crowded!

By the time we reached the new hotel in town, we were whipped again! A quick dinner at the hotel and off to bed. This time we both slept like rocks!

Enjoy!
Cheri & John

May 30, 2010 - Day 2 - The Bali Country Side

Bali is a part of Indonesia, but is pretty unique as compared to the rest of the country. It is upwards of 90% Hindu and you see signs of this faith every where. And it shows in the people - they are really. really nice from the heart. They pray every day, many times a day, and give offerings to the gods. You will see them all over the place.

Our driver, Ajik, was great! We headed out of Denpasar and up to Ubud. The traffic in Bali is scary at best with motorcycles weaving in and out of traffic at all times. And, despite the markings on the road, Bali traffic has a rhythm of it's own. People toot the horn to let others know they are near, they pull out where ever they feel like and the sea of traffic parts to allow them to do it, and you often think you are going to be crushed by a big truck....but alas, Ajik was an amazing driver and took all of this in stride as he expertly navigated us to see the sights.

First stop was the monkey forest! And oh what a stop it was! These monkeys are cousins to the Barbary apes we saw in Gibraltar and you will see it in their faces. By the time we arrived, it was nearing darkness and a rain storm was heading in. The light was tricky to say the least, but our trusty Canon 7D's were up to the challenge! We popped the ISo to allow more light to hit the sensor and grabbed these images.

After the monkeys, we went to see the white herons and then finally to our hotel. The hotel was spectacular and the food out of this world. We were so tired by this point that we elected to eat at the hotel for simplicity and were treated to a wonderful experience.

The torrential rain began around 2 am and much to our chagrin we found the one flaw in our gorgeous room...the roof emptied onto a skylight and it sounded like a whole rhythm section was practicing! yet again...not enough sleep!

Enjoy-
Cheri & John

May 29, 2010 - Bali Bound

With BA being on strike, we lost our connection out of Heathrow. Lucklily, as soon as the strike was back on, Cheri got on-line and secured seats from Gatwick to Amsterdam. Yeah! The trip is still on.

The bad news is that Gatwick is not too close to Paddington and with a 7 am flight we were out of the house at 3.45 am! No mind...we were going to Indonesia! So we got to Gatwick, faced off to BA agent who was clueless and asking things like, "what is the 3 letter code for where you are going? what class are you in - j?" She didn't instill confidence, especially when we got her to book our bags all the way through to Bali.

We hopped to Amsterdam without incident. Once there, we connected with a Cathay Pacific agent who was wonderful! She doubled checked our records and made sure all our luggage was destined to arrive with us!

We hopped onto the 777 from Amsterdam to Hong Kong. Oh la la! It was one of those 777 with herring bone business class seats. These have the most comfortable beds and a wide screen Tv with all kinds of movies and Bose cancellation headphones. Jackpot!

The good news - we could sleep. The bad news....well it was 2 pm our body clock time and sleep was elusive at best. So we both dozed and got a few hours, but not nearly as much as we hoped for.

We arrived in Hong Kong and popped into the first class lounge. Cheri sniffed around and found the showers. And what showers they were. Just picture us...we'd been up for the better part of 24 hours. These showers had giant heads and it felt like you were in a rain forest during a heavy down pour. So refreshing!!

After that - the final leg of the flights; a four hour and 20 minute flight to Denpasar (Bali)! We both slept alot on that flight.

When we arrived, we were met on the jet bridge by an agent from Wakatobi, our dive company. She cut all the lines and red tape, got us a visa, cleared customs and we were out in about 30 minutes. The average transit time is usually 2 to 3 hours. Yippee!

As we exited the customs area, we were met by our driver from Pure Bali and we were off to see the country side.

Enjoy!
Cheri & John