Bali – Day 3 (14 November 2013)

Originally I only asked Kadek for a day tour but then the driver convinced me to extend this to another day, he said that we still had a lot of places to cover, I first mulled this over then before the end of the first day tour I agreed. I agreed primarily because there were still places I saw on the internet that we haven’t gone to, ang tanga lang I couldn’t remember the name of the place that time, all I could remember was Tanah Lot and we haven’t gone to it during the first day.

And so for a second day in a row I geared up for a whole day of driving around the island, I knew that I had a long day ahead of me, yesterday I had lunch at 3 PM so I did indulge in breakfast yet again. And again the servers at the hotel’s restaurant thought of me as a local and spoke to me in Indonesian. I asked my driver the day before how to say “I don’t speak Indonesian” in Bahasa (language), he taught me that I had to say “Saya tiday bisa Indonesia”. That morning I tried it and the response I got was priceless it was always a cross between amazement and surprise, they always ended up saying “Oh!” haha.

Gitgit Falls in Singaraja

This for me was one of the most beautiful places my driver brought me to, yesterday was all about temples and this day we started with Nature. The drive is quite long from Seminyak but you wouldn’t be bored because of the scenery, along the way we passed by the 3 lakes, Bratan, Buyan and Tamblingan which were next to each other.

Nature trip, the falls are surrounded by a forest where you could here birds call and respond to each other

I haven’t seen my fair share of waterfalls so this was overwhelming for me, malayong lakaran lang as you have to make your way down to where the falls are and akyatan pabalik. Sa entrance maraming magvovolunteer as tour guides but these are total scams, I was asked for IDR 800,000 but my driver told him that we could do it on our own. Just now I read on tripadvisor that some people were asked different rates like one was asked for IDR 300,000, never agree to these guided tours you wouldn’t get lost going down to the falls!

Unknown temple

The name of the next destination we went to escapes my mind I couldn’t remember but it was on the shores of either Lake Buyan or Tamblingan. I could tell that this was one of the less popular temples that tourists go to kasi for one walang entrance fee nobody was guarding it and wala din provisions for sarongs for tourists, just one of the perks of going with my driver haha! The temple doors are golden, too bad the doors were closed we couldn’t get in.

Ulundanu Temple (Temple in the Lake)

Now this is as popular as popular tourist destination goes, ang laki ng parking lot as in Mall parking levels na puno ng tourist bus. We got in for free! We got mixed with a large group and the people at the gates thought we were part of the group so they let us in haha. 

This is one of the most pictured temples in Bali, lagi ko sya nakikita sa internet when I was searching for places to go, eto yung temple on the shores of Lake Beratan.  Ang daming tao lang as in, it’s hard to get a clear shot of yourself behind the temple without including other tourists. May nag-aaway pa nga kasi yung isa ayaw makisama nagpipicture yung family she didn’t want to move out of the way even for just a second haha I heard her say “Go ahead, I have no problems standing here!” that just cracked me and my driver up.

The whole complex features both Hindu and Buddhist temples. May restaurants din, I thought we were eating here it was already past lunch time! And ang dami ding tindahan so alam mo na tourist destination talaga.

Jatiluwih Rice Terraces

My driver wanted to bring me up to Mount Batukaru, supposedly another old temple was up there kaso kulang na sa oras he wanted to get me to Tanah Lot by sunset because supposedly that was the best time to visit the place. We stopped by instead at a parking lot where you get a fantastic view of the Jatiluwih rice terraces. For me, this one’s better than the one in Ubud. Mas malaki sya and less touristy. Out of the way lang, the road was definitely on the sira-sira side, levels lang ng ilang roads sa provincial Philippines. Some stretches seemed to have been forgotten by the government, most were so narrow that you had to slow down almost to a stop when another vehicle is passing.

Jatiluwih Rice Terraces, such a quiet and sleepy town I could live here

Tanah Lot

Tanah Lot at dawn, tourists winding down and view of the beautiful sunset

Finally! This was also on my list of must go to places, Tanah Lot is said to be one of the most revered temples by the Balinese Hindu community. This was another one of those touristy places with grand – and I say grand parking lots and lots of souvenir shops. The view lived up to the hype ang ganda! My driver timed our visit here at sunset sayang lang it was cloudy that day di masyado kita yung sunset but it would’ve been a fantastic sunset had we seen it. Hapon na so it was already high tide, we couldn’t walk straight to the temple. The waves were coming in strong, I don’t think I’ve seen waves like that before in my life. By this time, sunset na diba, we still haven’t had lunch buti na lang may nagtitinda ng corn like one of those you grill, wasn’t the most hygienic of choices but my stomach was grumbling and I had to eat something. 

High tide and strong waves kept the people from coming to the temple

Souvenir shopping – Nanami/Nanamy Artshop in Seminyak

Syempre bilang Pinoy, no trip is complete without going souvenir and pasalubong shopping. My driver drove me to this place near my hotel in Seminyak called Nanamy. The receipt says Nanamy but my google search told me it was Nanami. Anyway, the staff were friendly they even asked me about the big typhoon in our country. This one’s a 2-storey building that has all the souvenir/pasalubong you could ever think of as in everything I kid you not. Tapos my driver told me this is the cheapest place where you could get the stuff at the locals’ price. The nice girl even gave me a 5% discount di ko lang alam if they give this out to everyone, bad thing though when I told them I’ll be using my card they said that they’d have to add another 3% for the bank, so in the end mga 2% net lang ang discount ko haha. Yung mga kasabay ko namimili mga hapon, and the staff all spoke fluent Nihonggo. That tells you how much money the make out of Japanese customers. 

Drugstores

In the event that you’ll need medicine in this island, like I did. I knew that my acid levels were up so I needed to get me some Losec (antacid) before it spoil my remaining days in the island. If in Seminyak there’s a drugstore, by the way the locals call it a Pharmacy rather than a drugstore you’ll get better results when asking people this way, near Bintang Supermarket (see everything’s near Bintang!) called Med Mart Drug Store, this one’s comprehensive they have everything. Dito ko pa nga nalaman that another drug company makes the same medicine as Losec, Omeprazole din pero cheaper. They even have doctors on hand if you need a check up.

Med Mart near Bintang Supermarket

Funny thing though, they have a whole aisle for sunscreen and another aisle dedicated for condoms! Haha hashtag alam na.

Had to take this one quickly while Ate went to get my meds, ayan may price pa!

Med Mart Drug Store

Jalan Raya Seminyak No. 19 Kuta – Bali

0361-730977

info@mariosilverbali.com

Dewa Suarbawa aka The Driver

Here's a picture of the guy who drove me around, fantastic service. You get insider info and can get you a lot of discounts (if not free!) on entrance tickets. His car, actually it's Kadek's car smells nice and has Hindu offerings inside. He also brings bottled water for his guests and umbrellas in case there is rain. I think I blinded him by pointing my camera directly to his face hehe. Please do contact him if ever you need someone to drive you around Bali.

The places are far apart, there's no way of getting to them on your own not unless you rent a bike and tour the island on your own. But even that would take you a long time to cover the places we visited. Buti na lang walang traffic so the drive is fast.

You can contact him through this number:

Dewa Suarbawa

+62 81 936 216 644

He doesn’t actually have his own car but he said he’ll just borrow Kadek’s car whenever gigs like these would come by.

You can also contact Kadek Suastika

Kadek “Alung” Suastika

alungsuastika@gmail.com

+62 8174793556

Bali - Day 2 (13 November 2013)

Went to bed early the night before, these days I’ve been going to bed early, must be the age haha! After I showered and restored some sense of humanity in my appearance I hopped to the hotel restaurant to eat breakfast. I’ve always been a breakfast person and I always look forward to having buffet style breakfast at any hotel. Breakfast offering was enough, I wasn’t blown away or anything but I did gorge because I had the whole day ahead of me touring the island. For as long as I had scrambled egg in the morning then I’m a happy camper. I asked my driver to meet me at the hotel lobby at 8 AM to have an early start.

The Tourist Guide/Driver

Before leaving Manila I already contacted a tour guide in Bali to drive me around the island, we agreed on the date and price which was USD 70 or IDR 700,000. At first I wanted to pay him in $ but I reckoned paying in IDR is much cheaper. I got his contact details (mobile and email address) from another blogger who also went on a solo trip to Bali, emailing Kadek  was a breeze and he responds quickly. 

It was already past 8 AM and still Kadek was nowhere to be found, I had an idea of how he looked because the blogger posted a picture of him. This is where it gets funny, I texted and emailed him asking him where he was and confirming if I got the dates of our arrangement right, I also told him that I was wearing a black shirt at the poolside so he could spot me fast. I was waiting for a reply then this guy came to the hotel lobby approaching Caucasian guys. I saw that he had a piece of paper with him and seemed to be asking the white guys if it was their name written on the paper. I didn’t think it was him since I knew what he looked like, and he didn’t approach me anyway so I didn’t think anything of it. And so a half hour went by without my tour guide arriving, then I got a reply that said “dekat kolam ne” I asked the people at the hotel to translate it for me they said it meant “I’m near the pool” which was strange because I couldn’t see him. And one of the hotel staff approached the driver I saw earlier and asked him if it was me he was looking for. He handed me the paper which had my name on it and so we started the tour on a funny note.

He explained to me that Kadek wasn’t available that day and that he needed to bring his grandma to the hospital so he was sent instead. 

The Barong Dance & Kris Dance

The tour started at the Barong Dance and Kris dance at Sahadewa in Gianyar, this traditional Balinese dance is all about the never ending battle between good and bad. My driver, who is Hindu explained to me that of the Hindus belief in balance between good and evil, a check and balance between them always equal and one not getting over the other. At first I thought of it as weird, coming from a Catholic upbringing which told me that good always triumphs evil.

Barong & Kris Dance Sahadewa in Gianyar

The dance was exactly what I was looking for, that intricate Balinese dance with full on make up and costume. That dance is so intricate, every part of the body had movement and meaning even the eyeballs and pinky fingers moved.

After the performance, the actors lined up on the stage then tourists could have their pictures taken with them. I sat next to Japanese ladies who were all made up you would think that they weren’t on vacation. 

Ubud Rice Terraces

Next destination was the Tegallalang Rice Terraces in Ubud. I’ve seen the Banaue Rice Terraces and it pains me to say that Bali’s are better in terms of their condition. They were a lot of “regular” (read not terraces) rice paddies in the island which tourists go gaga over, I was more nonchalant at these since I practically grew up on a farm, rice paddies still exist behind our house in Bulacan at this day and age.

As we were driving, my driver asked me questions like where in the Philippines I came from and whether I got affected by the strong typhoon they’ve been hearing about on the news. We also discussed what places I found interesting and wanted to see in Bali and told him I was more into the history and culture stuff so he customized the program for me.

Sebatu Holy Waterfalls

Me at the Sebatu Holy Waterfalls

Next we went to the Sebatu Holy Waterfalls, this is not a typical tourist place and is visited only mostly by locals to perform rituals and to bathe. It is said that the standing under the falls would cleanse both the physical and spiritual parts. It's quite a hike, nakakahingal and takes a toll on your legs lalo na your knees hehe. Along the way I saw people selling plastic jars so people could take water and bring it home. The hike looks like this:

The hike going down to Sebatu Waterfalls, the climb back up is more deadly hehe

Pura Gunung Kawi

Gunung Kawi (left), Sebatu Holy Waterfall (bottom right)

Gunung Kawi (Sebatu Tegallalang)

And so he went crazy on the temples and places Balinese people held sacred. A lot of which involved water like springs and falls. The Balinese are very religious people and I appreciated that, along the way I would see people on worship garb on their way to the many temples to make their offerings. 

Some pictures from Pura Gunung Kawi:

My guide drinking water

Tirtha Empul

One of my must go to places in Bali was Tirtha Empul which I saw in the Bali episode of Samantha Brown’s travel show. You can just tell that this wasn’t just any tourist destination, the place had a lot of history and meaning.

Mount Kintamani

Me at Mt Kintamani

Mount Kintamani is Tall Volcano/Tagaytay to us Filipinos. Kintamani is an active volcano+lake. Tagaytay talaga sya complete with restaurants overlooking the lake. He brought me to a buffet style restaurant (Grand Puncak Sari Hotel and Restaurant) that charge IDR 100,000. I didn’t want to eat because of all the flies circling the buffet table but I was afraid of offending my driver since he thought that this was such a great place and also it was already 3 PM and I was really hungry and so I had lunch here anyway. Food was blah but I took the chance to sample traditional Indonesian desserts like what they call Black Rice Pudding and Brown bean pudding which was monggo in Filipino. Weird lang kasi it was dessert to them, it was sweet naman pero I was used to earting monggo as a savory dish.

Wisata Penglipuran

Next was the Penglipuran which was where you could see the traditional Balinese village set up preserved to this date and it was still functional, people still lived on this village. The village was one long alley with houses on each sides, the alley lead to a temple. The most amazing thing though was on the drive over we passed by a bamboo forest where all you could see are bamboos for long stretches. 

You had to pay for a ticket before entering the village, the price was lower if you were Indonesian. My driver told me not to speak and he did all the talking and I got the local rate haha! From then on he bought the tickets for me and got the local rate!

I just love the architecture of Bali, the houses are laid out so simply but the details are so intricate it just blows my mind.

Goa Gajah, Gianyar

The last of the temples we went to that day was Goa Gajah in Gianyar, I think the literal translation would be the Elephant’s Mouth or something like that. Again I passed as an Indonesian and got in cheaper. The Goa Gajah features a cave where the entrance is made to look like the mouth of one of the Hindu gods.

The temple complex also has ruins and a water fall.

Art shopping in Ubud (Dewa Putu Toris Art Studio)

Ubud (ed. although I think this particular place is in Gianyar) is known as an artists’ village, my driver took me last to an art gallery where they showed you how they make traditional Balinese paintings which were like their architecture, very intricate. They gallery was like a house converted into a gallery. The guide also said that several artists live there.

I wasn’t really keen on buying art, in fact earlier in the day I asked my driver to skip the silver and art shop stops, we did skip the silver place but I guess he really wanted me to see the place. He was funny because he told me that I could just look and not buy hehe. 

In the end I ended up buying not just one but two paintings, one of a traditional Balinese rendering of Saraswati, the goddess of learning, and one modern abstract painting by an up and coming Ubud based painter. Total damage: IDR 700,000. Not bad, diba?

In hindsight I guess it was a good decision, now I decided that I’d  buy art every country I go to. Actually on my way home pag dating ko dito, I remembered that one of the items in my to do list for this year was to “acquire art” so I guess that’s hitting 2 goals with one stone, the other being to travel alone.

Service in the gallery was amazing, she was very friendly and even told me of past Filipino guests that spent fortunes on Balinese traditional paintings by one of the living masters. I felt no pressure to buy at all haha it’s just that I got tempted and I cave in. I would advise you though to buy modern paintings because these were rendered in canvas and could easily be rolled para madaling iuwi, the Balinese painting naman was in paper so they couldn’t roll it. What they did was they put it in cartons, kind of like an improvised envelope, would easily fit a trolley yun lang I came only using my backpack.

A note on visiting temples

The Hindus are very particular in terms of clothing whenever entering temple grounds, tourists must be “formal” before they are allowed to enter. Men and women would have to wear pants, but they always have sarongs at the entrance people can borrow in case you came in your shorts. No need to wear shoes, sandals are appropriate. Fortunately, the first day I wore pants but they had me use a cloth to tie around my waist, kind of like a belt before I was allowed to enter.

My driver/tour guide

My tour guide was heaven sent, basta makaka-discount he would make sure to get me discounts on entrance fees. He was also really warm and friendly, you could tell na driving me around wasn’t just a job to him and he really wanted me to have a good time. And he gave me a lot of inputs na you wouldn’t get in any guide book.

You can contact him through this number:

Dewa Suarbawa

+62 81 936 216 644

He doesn’t actually have his own car but he said he’ll just borrow Kadek’s car whenever gigs like these would come by.

You can also contact him through Kadek

Kadek “Alung” Suastika

alungsuastika@gmail.com

+62 8174793556

Daydreaming of my next Holiday

For people who work for banks and financial institutions here in the Philippines, it’s a well-known fact that the BSP (Central Bank of the Philippines) requires employees of banks and financial institutions to go on a two week leave every year. They say it’s a form of audit to have someone temporarily take over your job while you go on leave others say it’s because working for banks are very stressful so everyone’s mandated to go on leave.

Whatever the real reason behind this I wouldn’t bother researching, or maybe I’ll reserve it for some time when I’ve reached that level of boredom but now I’ll contend myself with knowing that I’m allowed 10 days off from work. I haven’t taken my mandatory leave yet, I scheduled to do it on the 2nd and 3rd week of November and so I’m racking my brains out trying to figure out how to spend my holidays.

I wasn’t always like this you know, there was a time when I considered going on leave quite bothersome because of all the prep work I had to do transferring my work load to another person in the team. But I grew up and grew weary of working, this would be the third straight year I would go on a mandatory leave.

Last year I went on a solo and spontaneous backpacking trip of Central Visayas. I did the Cebu-Bohol-Negros Oriental-Siquijor route which I did for 10 days. The result was a once in a lifetime experience worthy of a separate blog post. Here are some pictures.

Exploring Bantayan Island on a Motorbike

Bantayan Island, endless stretch of white sand

Supercat going to Bohol from Cebu

Man made forest in Bohol

This year, I haven’t made up my mind yet. Early this year I had in mind this Northern Mindanao route which would take me to Surigao, Siargao and Dinagat Islands and making a beeline to Bucas Grande then after some googling session I fixated on a Indochina Route going from Cambodia to Thailand then crossing the border to Laos. Then, I found out that air tickets going to Osaka was quite within reach, I’ve always wanted to go to Kyoto which is quite near Osaka.

Option 1: Bucas Grande (photo from bucasgrande.com)

Option 2: Cambodia-Thailand-Northern Laos Route (phot from tucantravel.com)

Option 3: Osaka-Kyoto (photo from 123rf.com)

I’m planning on going by myself again this year, a solo trip for me is easier as you do not have to constantly consider what the other person wants to do, where to eat, where to go next or where to shop. Now if I could only make up my mind and also find money to spend on my holiday haha! Maybe I’ll just surprise myself, spontaneously buying plane tickets and booking rooms right before my leave starts.