Sunday – Today we headed off on a cultural adventure. We got a driver & set of pretty well straight after breakfast, the traffic wasn’t too bad at this time of the day it seems after lunch the traffic gets heavy and continues all night. I actually didn’t mind the traffic jams as we were always sitting in air-conditioned comfort and it was always a good way to observe the world Bali style.

The driver took us via the prison so we could see where Shapelle and the Bali nine live. They all seemed to do that and we just pretended every time that this was the first time we had seen it. It made the drivers happy.

The first stop was Goa Gajah (Elephant Cave). The car had barely stopped before the hawkers converged on us. They were selling carvings and wooden boxes and in hindsight I wish I had have bought from them as they were dirt cheap but I just wasn’t ready to be shopping so early and they annoyed me the way the swooped on us.

The driver showed us the way to go and we paid the admittance price which was only a couple of dollars and we were given a sarong each, it is taboo to enter a temple showing your knees. There was a guy at the gate who tied us both into our attire and sent us on our way. The way to the cave was via a long, long stair case cut into the side of a mountain. It was so picturesque with beautiful tropical gardens. Outside the elephant cave was some squarish pools with maiden statues squirting holy Bali water. The water also contained fish. The way down was via a series of steps cut into the rocks.

I had a couple of Muslim girls strike up a conversation with me on the steps they were so friendly and again posed for photos with me. I seemed to be some sort of goddess in Bali hehehehehe. 🙂

A guy tried to tell us we needed a guide but I said we knew all about the place as we had read about it on the internet that was a bit of a half truth . Robbie had read up I had just found out from him (naughty aren’t I)? Anyway the elephant cave was exactly that, ‘a cave’ it was carved out of the mountain. It was bloody old that’s for sure if I had of gotten a guide I could have told you more (that will teach me) we went inside and there was an alter with a small elephant statue. To be honest it wasn’t that impressive I didn’t feel any spiritual awaking like I had at the temples we visited in Thailand. 🙂

Ok, so have done the cave and still more stairs lead down though beautiful lush gardens to a stream and a water fall. On the way down there was and old toothless man selling coconut juice and water. We told him we would get a drink on the way back up. He said to me “the fallen Buddha is down there” and he pointed to the stream. I just smiled at him thinking what the hell is this crazy old man going on about but just smiled and continued down.

Well seems he wasn’t so crazy after all there in the stream and carved into the rocks were the remanets of a Buddha statue. It looked thousands of years old and was covered in moss. It was all smashed up but you could still see very distinguishing carvings that showed it was in fact a Buddha. The toothless man then came down with his little straw broom and got into the stream with it swishing the water. He then beckoned us to follow him into the water and around the rocks. I was worried that I would fall over as the rocks looked slippery so I went up on to a bridge above to watch Robbie who followed him armed with his camera. The old man lead him to a beautiful water fall. I know it was beautiful as Robbie got some really nice photos. I felt this was a very special place now this impressed me more than the elephant cave. I chatted with the same Muslim girls again while I waited for Robbie to emerge from behind the rocks.

At this stage we were along way down the side of the mountain and looking up at the steps I thought this was gonna be a hard trek back up. I hate walking up stairs. Oh well it had to be done so I just took my time and it wasn’t too bad we did buy some water from the toothless man on the way past and I arrived at the top not too worse for wear. Robbie just breezed up there like it was nothing. I am so fat and out of condition got to do something about that.

When at the top we handed back our sarongs and set off back to the car. It’s the weirdest thing all the significant places you wish to see in Bali are found next to a market which is the only way in or out so you have to run the gauntlet of people wanting you to make them lucky by buying from them. The hawkers at the car were the pushiest souls They were blocking the path to the car it was so hard getting by them without being rude. I got into the car and thought this old fella was gonna hop in with me he just wasn’t going to give up. I managed to shut the door but I was surprised he didn’t hold on to the car door as we took off. It makes you feel really bad that you don’t want to buy from them and I found it hard to say no.

Next stop Pura Gunung Kawi. We pull up in a small village and our driver told us to head down the path and he said we would find the way down to the temple. He also said there were many steps and that it will take us a while to get down and back.
Again the way to the temple was through a market and everyone was coaxing us to by a sarong for the temple, on our way through. We didn’t though as our driver told us we could borrow one and give a donation before entering the grounds. So we got to the gate and Robbie got tied into a sarong again and as I had longish shorts on I was told I didn’t need a sarong but just needed a sash so I was tied into a pink sash and looked like a big round present. We paid a donation and off we went.
The trek to the temple was all down hill there were 315 steps in total. Well that’s what the locals told us, & again they were of differing sizes and heights so it was pretty hard going. We met some people on their way back up who were having a rest and the guy said to us don’t despair it is worth the walk. We passed through some more stalls which sat amongst a rice paddy and what seemed to be an elaborate water system. The scenery was quite stunning.

We were heading down in to a beautiful rain forest type setting and then we came across a beautiful bridge which had a whole lot of teenagers laughing and playing together in traditional dress. I have no idea what they were up to but they seemed to be having a great time.

After crossing the bridge we followed the signs and were lead into a series of caves that had been cut out of the side of the mountain. We were told by some other tourists that there were bodies buried in these caves and that it was a very spiritual place, We didn’t see any bones thank goodness. We continued to follow the signs and came across and alter with offerings which were just common place in every aspect of life in Bali.

We came out into and opening it was a sight to behold there were ancient carvings cut into too adjacent rock faces they were very high and very impressive. They would have been many centuries old and it was hard to get a picture that fully highlighted the size and magnitude of these carvings. This place definitely had an aura and spiritual feel about it.

There was a young couple all dressed up in traditional/beautiful clothes and they were part of a professional photo shoot. I am not sure what that was all about maybe it was their wedding, and maybe that’s what the teenagers were there for. Any way they looked so nice. We wandered around this little village and took pictures of the water falls and just the local families going about there every day life. The gardens were very serene as well.

We spent about ½ hour down there and then we had to start the trek back up. I knew this was going to be hard going but Robbie said we would just take our time and just to stop when I needed too. I wanted to stop after about the first step as the way out was different to the way in. We had to navigate some steps cut out of the side of the mountain but seriously they must have been made by giants with long, long legs . I seriously had to lift my leg up so high up about 60cms and with my short little legs this was hard core. Anyway I was determined to get to the top without too much bitching and moaning. I got to the top but I can’t say I didn’t complain!

We stopped about ½ way and had a drink of water and chatted to an old lady who was the one that told me how many steps there were. We chatted to some other people who were also selling coconut drinks and carvings made from coconut shells very fine work would have taken them hours to do. Not the sort of thing you would want to bring home though.

Then it was back to the car after running the gauntlet of ladies trying to sell us sarongs again, this lot were almost chasing us up the road.

Next stop Pura Tirta Empul and it seems we picked a fine day to come here it was like one of their holiest days of the year and the place was over flowing with worshipers. I felt like we were invading their sacred day, there was thousands of them in their very best attire. It didn’t seem to worry the other tourists that this was a holy day so I just went with the flow although one fella did give us a filthy ‘if looks could kill glare’ when all the tourists were taking photos.  It was all incense, offerings, bell ringing and chanting. There was some very important dude there who looked like a king, well that’s what we thought he was. He was very important that much is for sure.

This temple also has special pools with healing properties we were told that you bath in the pool and make your offerings and ask for what ever it is you need like good health, wealth, wisdom, love or to settle a quarrel what ever it is you need.

We didn’t get in the pool but watched the people bathing and making their offerings.
Next we heard some loud music and drums being banged so went towards the sound and there was performance artist dancing and doing some weird arsed abstract painting. Hmmmm everyone seemed very impressed maybe he was famous.

Time to leave we again had to pass through a market to get out of the temple.(What a surprise) we were getting pretty good at getting out without being guilted into buying stuff that we didn’t want in the first place. We watched some kids fishing in what looked like the dirtiest stream in Bali. I sure hope if they caught anything they didn’t eat it . ewwwwwwww.

Time to have some lunch and visit Kintamani Volcano. We started heading up a mountain and the further up we got the darker it got and then it started to pelt down with rain. The driver was in a hurry for sure he must have been hungry. We got to a restaurant and the driver told us this was the best place to see the volcano, it was also the place where he was going to get his free lunch for him delivering us there. hehehehe. Well I have no doubt it was nice on a sunny day but all we got to see were the clouds. It was a shame but we were in Bali in the raining season so there was no use getting annoyed about it. We just bolted out of the car in the pouring rain and made our way into the restaurant, again running the gauntlet of hawkers trying to sell us everything from sarongs to postcards. We got inside and it was an all you can eat buffet. I still had a little bit of Bali belly so didn’t go too berserk. Our personal server kept trying to load us down with more food. She even wanted us to take a bunch of bananas home with us in the car so we didn’t get hungry on the way home. The hospitality was amazing wherever we went. The food was nice and it looked like it would have been a stunning view on a nice day. We went outside when it stopped raining to try and get a glimpse of the volcano and unfortunately we didn’t get to see it. Our serving lady took our picture though in front of the invisible volcano. We were laughing about it though and bought a postcard so next trip to Bali we will just have to go again.:-)

After that we wanted to stop at Tegallalang to take some picture of the rice paddies. It was stunning there was no end of beautiful things to see and take photos of. Robbie and I were both clicking up a storm. Again we had the usual sales people try to sell their wares before the car even stopped there must be some turf laws there because the people on the road didn’t venture down the stairs and there were other people on the landing selling their stuff but these ones weren’t too hard core & were more chatty than anything. The drivers never shoed away the hawkers though we were fair game to whoever wanted to have a crack at us but that all part of the charm and fun of Bali.

This was a big, big day and we drove through many beautiful villages on the way back down the mountain it was raining but there was just so much to see.

That evening we went to have a massage to help relax after such a big day of walking. This was to be my first one and as it turned out it was my last. Robbie told the girl to go light on me and I didn’t like it hard but the girl he told was not the girl I got and she went in hard. I am such a delicate little flower it hurt and I was trying to tell myself this was nice but I wasn’t hearing it. Probably wasn’t hard for a ‘normal’ person hahahaha. Anyway it did feel good when she stopped. She was such a tiny little thing too and looked about 12 but she was bloody strong.
After the massage we wandered around and buying stuff we were running low on local currency so decided we better look for a money changer and this my friends is where I saw magic happen & experience a shark attack!

Money changers are everywhere and there are a lot of things to watch out for when changing money as some of them aren’t exactly honest. As the currency has so many zeros on it, it very easy to confuse what notes are what and the colours are very similar. The older the notes get the more the colour fades so you have to be alert all the time. We wanted to change $100 Aussie into Bali Rupee(Rp). We found two guys who were offering a good exchange rate and no commissions. So first thing Robbie asked was do you have big notes as one of the traps is they give you small notes so it confuses you. It looks like you have heaps but there are so many notes it’s hard to distinguish if you got the right amount of money in the transaction. They said they only had small notes so we started to walk away as Robbie didn’t want to go through the small note drama. As we walked off they called us back suddenly they had large notes of 50,000 Rp and they were giving a good rate. So we agreed. Now this is where the magic happened. Robbie is very astute and had read all about the tricks the money changes do, so knew what to look out for.

We put our $100 on the bench and I don’t know why but while Robbie conducted business I just held my hand on our $100 note. The young guy got out his stack of money and counted it out in 50,000 Rp notes. Robbie watched I watched no drama there, he counted out the correct amount of notes. He then handed the money to Robbie to count, all good Robbie counted I, all accounted for. Now Robbie knew that that is one of the tricks to watch was that if they take the money back before giving it back to you watch out.The guy took the notes back and counted them out again all looked right and he handed the money back to Robbie done deal!

Well no, Robbie counted the money again (I still had hold of our $100) I hadn’t seen anything happen other than Robbie and this dude passing the pile of money backwards and forwards and it being counted. This time there were less notes, we hadn’t taken our eyes off this guy but he managed to short change us. Robbie called him on it and he counted again and then said sorry and got out a couple more notes added it back in and counted again. Correct amount and handed it to Robbie again. I still had hold of our $100, Robbie said hang on mate and counted again. The pile of notes was short again. I don’t know how he did it but then Robbie said no deal and gave him his money back and I took our $100 and we left. It was amazing I never even blinked when the guy was counting the money and I never saw his trick. Robbie worked out how he was doing it though he was dropping notes behind the counter after he counted them out. After that we decided we would go to one of the big money changers, you get less exchange rate but still you don’t get robbed in the process.

We eventually got the money and sat and watched the world go by up in Jl Legion Street & this place was out of control x 100 at night, there were wall to wall people, cars, bikes , horses, music fire twirlers, go go dancers and every sort of debauchery imaginable. Robbie got offered Viagra, speed, massage, girls anything you wanted. This truly has to be seen to be believed, it is a writhing sea of young people and I felt about 1,000 years old. This was in the area were the Bali bombings happened and it was a scary thought really if one went off there and then it would have wiped out thousands of people. At this point I would just like to end by sharing a thought for all those people lost in the bombing. Rest in peace all .