Bali Adventure Part 3 of 3 Lovina, Menjanan and Legian

*** ADDITIONAL PHOTOS ARE LOCATED HERE: https://picasaweb.google.com/kjhansen24***

Nov 18 Lovina

Our diving came with dolphin watching.  We were on the beach at 6 am and in a little pontoon canoe boat right after with a Canadian couple Jenn and Mick.  We chatted all the way out about travel and clean eating.  Dolphin watching was not as any of us had envisioned it.  There were at least 50 of these small craft out on the water.  Any time dolphins were spotted, every boat full of tourists raced over to the pod and nearly ran them over, scaring them underwater and away.  It was ridiculous.  Mick was particularly upset by it, saying it was cruel.  Finally, on the way back we came across three dolphins all on their own.  They were right by the boat and no other boats were around.  That was lovely!

Back at the hotel, we were fed breakfast then loaded into a bus bound for a “5-star PADI” dive company’s shop.  Definitely not 5 stars.  The equipment was well-used, but we can deal with that.  There were 2 snokelers, a slovenly middle-aged Italian dude and his Philipina girlfriend who couldn’t have been older than I am.  Also in the group were a couple from Switzerland Jasmin and Peter.  They were on a six month holiday traveling Asia having spent 5 years building their own company.  Good for them! 

An hour or so later, we made it to the dive site.  We crowded into a little boat with a couple of Danish surfers who were also snorkeling.  The water was gorgeous, that stunning turquoise gradient that makes all the pictures look photo-shopped.  Both dives were amazing!  There were more types of fish and coral in one section than I have ever seen in my life.  I saw huge schools of fish mingled with schools of larger fish.  The coral was gorgeous!  I couldn’t believe all the different kinds.  It was wonderful, like swimming in an expensive aquarium.  Peter was kind enough to share his pictures with us.

Nov  19 – Lovina to Legian

The hotel was kind enough to book us a ride to Kuta with their car and a driver.  It was not inexpensive.  We paid much more than we wanted to, but they’d been kind to us.  We were served Jaffles (pronounced waffles) for breakfast.  What we were served was white bread with fruit in it that had been pressed in one of those sandwich grills that seals off the edges and removed the crust.  Since it fit the vegan and sugar free (ish) categories, it was probably the closest of our breakfasts to being in our diets.

The driver took us first to a Buddhist monastery where we walked around very quietly then up to the hot springs where we took a short dip and were introduced to his wife and sister who sell sarongs and other souvenirs there.  He was rather disappointed that we didn't buy anything.  However, on the way out, there was a woman selling purple sweet potatoes wrapped in palm leaves.  We weren't missing out on those for anything.  I love purple sweet potatoes!  I ate them all the time in Hawaii.  I also approved of the packaging.  One thing I hadn't mentioned to this point is there is garbage everywhere.  This is fairly typical of a third world country.  When you have to buy bottled water a couple times a day, you wonder where the plastic ends up.  Indonesia burns it, it turns out.  Agh!  So we avoided plastic wherever possible.

After the hot spring, we were driven to a waterfall.  For $0.50 each we could hike down and back up to see it.  Of course the guy collecting the money is at the bottom of the hill with no sign at the top for warning.  Hope you remembered your wallet!  The waterfall was huge and gorgeous.  The mist made it hard to take clear pictures and soaked our clothes in seconds.  We watched a bunch of girls freezing in their bikinis pose for a lot more photos than I would have had the patience for.

At this point, we were up in the mountains.  It was no longer hot and oppressive but blessedly cool and beautiful.  We stopped for a view on the side of the road and ended up feeding papaya to a bunch of fruit bats someone had turned into a tourist attraction.  They are ridiculously cute creatures, willing to chew a chunk of papaya as big as their heads while begging for more.  The male had squirreled (heehee) a strawberry away under his wing.  There were other animals as well, a huge snake, an iguana, chameleons, but the bats stole the show.

The bats had us in full smiles.  The next stop was the Temple by the Lake.  I’m sure it had a name, but I don’t recall it.  It was beautiful and serene on a well-manicured estate of lakefront property.  We took a nice stroll around.  I used my sarong as a wrap since I was chilly for the first and only time on the Island. 

Next we drove to the Temple by the Sea, Tanah Lot.  This is a very famous place.  It was extremely crowded.  We paid our fee and walked through a gauntlet of shops selling all the same things we had already seen.  Finally we made it to the shore and temple.  It was very cool, standing out on a rock fifteen feet off shore.  We waded over and were told we had to be blessed by the monks before entering.  We did their silly ritual of drinking holy water and having rice smeared on our heads, then declined a donation as we had already paid an entrance fee.  As we walked up the stairs to the temple, we realized it was blocked.  No one was allowed to actually go see it.  We walked down the beach and took a picture, but were rather disappointed.

Finally the driver dropped us off at a hotel in Legian, near Kuta.  It cost $60 per night for a room which was more than we paid for any other room the whole trip.  The room was okay, but the resort was right on the water and had a breakfast buffet as well as swimming pools.  We grabbed some food up the road and wandered down the beach a few miles checking out all the oceanfront bars, fire dancers, and even a fisherman.  The beach was ours.  Low season is awesome! 

Nov 20 – Legian to Taipei.

It dawned bright and beautiful, so we ran to the beach, famous for its waves, and played in the rough waters.  Once decided I had drunk enough salt water, we went straight to the breakfast buffet, dripping wet.  We ate as much toast, fruit and grilled tomatoes as our stomachs could hold.  To top it all off, we jumped in the pool before heading back to pack up.

We had a bit of time after checkout to entertain ourselves before flying.  I decided I wanted to have a proper pedicure, so we went searching.  We found a little salon a few blocks away that didn’t have ridiculous prices or look sketchy.  We chose 1 hour foot massages and pedicures.  It was lovely.  The girl working on my awful feet told me all about her life.  It was a sad story, but she’s making it happen.  Mike enjoyed his first pedicure, but regretfully declined letting the girl paint his toes a perky shade of pink.

We negotiated a cab to the airport and made it with plenty of time to spare.  However, when we got through security, they wanted $20 each to leave the country.  What?  I’ve never had to pay to enter and pay to leave before.  Not happy.  The airport had very few sitting areas and made us wait to go to our gate until 15 minutes before boarding time.  Finally we took our seats on a fairly empty flight and headed to our next adventure in Taiwan.