One week is definitely not enough time to see Bali. I’ve already checked my planner to see when our next bit of vacation time is so that I can go back. With only a week, I spent my time in Ubud and Nusa Lembongan.
I can understand why people extent their time in Ubud! There is so much to do there and it’s an excellent base from which to take tours to other parts of the island. My first night in Ubud I stayed right in the middle of rice fields. At night it was nice to hear the sounds of the insects and frogs in the rice paddies, but it was so loud it actually kept me awake. I switched to a guesthouse that was a little closer to the center of things. This place was wonderful with tropical gardens and weathered buddist statues scattered over the grounds. In Ubud I visited many hindu temples, saw some traditional dance performances, and even went to a wedding ceremony. There is also an area called Monkey Forest, which has three temples in the jungle. As the name implies there are also plenty of monkeys roaming around, and since there are also plenty of tourists with food, the monkeys are not afraid of people and will even try to climb up a leg or snatch something from an open bag. The place did have an Indiana Jones feel to it, with monkeys swinging between the vine wrapped trees, and climbing over moss covered temples.
Unfortunately I did get really sick while in Ubud. It was bound to happen sooner or later, but I wish it wouldn’t have happened on vacation. I went to a clinic and got some Cipro, which is a wonder drug! The doctor did a few strange tests, but I knew in the end I would get Cipro, thanks to my great Peace Corps medical training. So for a day I did nothing but stay in bed, but then the next day I felt well enough to take a tour. I saw beautiful rice fields, which Bali is known for, and also went to see a lakeside temple in Bedugul, central Bali.
I then headed to Nusa Lembongan, a little island to the southeast of Bali. It’s a little piece of paradise with turquoise blue waters and not much development except for a handful of places to stay along the water. Here the people do seaweed farming which is the main source of income along with tourism. I took a scooter ride around the island and also went on an amazing snorkeling trip! I have never seen so many varieties of coral! There were also plenty of colorful tropical fish. The only bad thing about the trip was seeing my boat drag its anchor through the coral beds, breaking it all into pieces. I guess ecotourism has yet to leave its mark on Indonesia.
I can understand why people extent their time in Ubud! There is so much to do there and it’s an excellent base from which to take tours to other parts of the island. My first night in Ubud I stayed right in the middle of rice fields. At night it was nice to hear the sounds of the insects and frogs in the rice paddies, but it was so loud it actually kept me awake. I switched to a guesthouse that was a little closer to the center of things. This place was wonderful with tropical gardens and weathered buddist statues scattered over the grounds. In Ubud I visited many hindu temples, saw some traditional dance performances, and even went to a wedding ceremony. There is also an area called Monkey Forest, which has three temples in the jungle. As the name implies there are also plenty of monkeys roaming around, and since there are also plenty of tourists with food, the monkeys are not afraid of people and will even try to climb up a leg or snatch something from an open bag. The place did have an Indiana Jones feel to it, with monkeys swinging between the vine wrapped trees, and climbing over moss covered temples.
Unfortunately I did get really sick while in Ubud. It was bound to happen sooner or later, but I wish it wouldn’t have happened on vacation. I went to a clinic and got some Cipro, which is a wonder drug! The doctor did a few strange tests, but I knew in the end I would get Cipro, thanks to my great Peace Corps medical training. So for a day I did nothing but stay in bed, but then the next day I felt well enough to take a tour. I saw beautiful rice fields, which Bali is known for, and also went to see a lakeside temple in Bedugul, central Bali.
I then headed to Nusa Lembongan, a little island to the southeast of Bali. It’s a little piece of paradise with turquoise blue waters and not much development except for a handful of places to stay along the water. Here the people do seaweed farming which is the main source of income along with tourism. I took a scooter ride around the island and also went on an amazing snorkeling trip! I have never seen so many varieties of coral! There were also plenty of colorful tropical fish. The only bad thing about the trip was seeing my boat drag its anchor through the coral beds, breaking it all into pieces. I guess ecotourism has yet to leave its mark on Indonesia.
So now I’m trying to get into the mindset to prepare for classes and start seeing things around my city, Yogya. But as I’m trying to get into the work mode, I’ve been getting emails and text messages from the other teachers in my program planning trips for days off in February and March. That will give me something fun to look forward to! I am excited to start working though. I'll be teaching undergrad courses in Cross Cultural Understanding, Paragraph Writing, and Public Speaking. I'll also be leading discussion groups at the two American Corners here and giving workshops to teachers. Aside from these things, I'm hoping to be able to do some volunteer work with Save the Children here in Yogyakarta. So for the next 5 months I should be really busy.
