Tracy's Backpack

We’re in Nusa Lembongan right now, and it’s a lovely little beach town on the island. Very walkable. Very chill vibe. Doesn’t have the scores of touts around constantly offering you taxi rides or asking you to buy souvenirs. I mean, folks here still have a lot of ambition and energy spent towards tourists (most places seem to serve multiple functions. Laundry service that also offers motorbike rentals and lunch. Or a water taxi who also rents out his house as a home stay. Local eatery that also coordinates snorkeling trips and shows movies each night). It’s a really great energy. Weather continues to have clouds and rain and thunder, but luckily it’s only ever been for half of the day.

Today we went snorkeling and the weather was gorgeous this morning. So lucky. Our first stop in Manta Bay and I’m a bit nervous hopping off the side of the boat, but as I plunge in and put on my mask, I see a very large Manta ray swimming right towards me. VERY LARGE!!! Amazing. We saw so many!!! Or possibly just the same two or three making a very large circle route in our area. I am used to the small ones in American aquariums. And I knew these would be bigger, but holy moley. Felt like a 4′ or 5′ wingspan (fin-span?) as they swam by. Then to Crystal Bay, where the water was super clear and the reef was nice with small tropical fishes. But we actually saw better varieties and bigger fish when we did our own snorkeling at Blue Lagoon in Padangbai. There Jessica was able to rent a snorkel on the beach (I brought my own. A purchase I made years ago… Worth every penny. Even if I only snorkel once or twice every few years. I got the kind with a stopper so if one is prone to distraction, like every time a turtle swims past, and turns their head too far, this stopper prevents snorkel from becoming a straw. I swear, I used to inhale so much seawater before I got this). We could just walk into the ocean and swim right over the reefs. The reef in that area wasn’t in the best shape, and being in a small bay (on a crowded island with a trash problem), we were also snorkeling with a fair amount of garbage. And that’s a real bummer as a Pringle can floats by, or a plastic bag. Gorgeous tropical fish, sun shining through clear water, and then garbage floating underwater past you. Still, that was a fantastic afternoon. Not even spoiled too much that we set our towels down near some biting ants. Oops. Unpleasant surprise when we came back. Guess that’s one reason to not cheap out (which we did) and actually renting one of the beach chairs. Ha. Still, was able to brush off/shake off most of the ants. The Bloo Lagoon eco-resort was lovely on the Cliffside above the harbor. They were hosting an aerial yoga retreat while we stayed there. Found ourselves invited to their performance/recital. It was very impressive.  The yoga students had been instructed by their teacher to go into town and invite people. So not only were there other tourists and much of the resort staff, but a few families from town came up the hill to watch, too. Very sweet, as each pair had put together a routine of these yoga moves done in the air while the other partner is holding them above their heads. Wild.

Turns out the very vocal cat we befriended poolside (with blue collar and distinctive crooked tail), makes the rounds all over this small harbor town. Because next evening he was all the way up the Cliffside, meowing around us at Bloo Lagoon hotel. Probably a decent life, being a cat in this small fishing town. Not sure which resort owns him, but he puts in some distance.

While in Sanur waiting for our fast boat to Lembongan Island, we stopped for a meal. And I had one of the best burgers I’ve ever had, in Bali of all places. The local food is pretty amazing, and while I could eat noodles and rice forever, it was nice for a change, too. And such a pleasant surprise when it was super delicious, with a fried egg on top. Yum.

Weather was great for the fast boat ride (hooray).   I’ve definitely read some stories of rough crossings/sea sick boats. Went with Glory fast boat, as they were recommended by the Fairmont. As much as our driver had said we could “bargain shop” between all the outfitters, and that using my Indonesian would help us get a better price, I was willing to pay more for safety and comfort. Considering some of these smaller/newer boats can carry horror stories (there are no regulations and no Coast Guard if something happens), and when the cost difference is less than $20 (a big amount in Bali), I felt much more comfortable with this. And the Glory fast boat to Lembongan was wonderful. Very well maintained big boat, ample life vests, professional crew, and they were blasting techno mixes of Adele and Taylor Swift. Huh.

We’ve adjusted our itinerary and won’t be going to Munduk anymore. I’d wanted to stay in a smaller highland town, and see the waterfalls, etc. But when we extended our stay in Ubud, that only left us 2 nights. Which still would’ve been fine (even if locals were horrified we were contemplating 3 hr drive for only two nights). But I seriously tweaked my back climbing back into the boat the last time during our snorkeling trip. So the thought of hiking up and down slippery trails (already emotionally hard for me… *shakes her fist at slippery downhill trails*) to see some waterfalls… Doesn’t seem like a good plan. And Jessica didn’t have her heart set on it. At breakfast this morning, she’d asked, “now, what exactly is there to do in Munduk? I haven’t looked it up yet.” So that’s a good thing that she’s not disappointed. I am, a bit. But it’ll be okay. Plus, she was brave enough to rent a motorbike and ride around the island, while I’m stretching out my back in our room. Had a blast! Sounds amazing. While the roads/driving situation in most of Bali is insane and it’d be seriously dangerous to ride a motorbike like the locals do, on this small island that just has one road that circles it, it was perfect for her.

We’ll be staying the extra 2 nights in Sanur instead, which has lots of shops and stuff and a supposedly great 4km beach walk. And it’s location is much better for taking day trips, so we can go see a few more temples and other sites on the island. Happily my back seems to be okay walking around. Just problematic sitting in some chairs and getting up from lying down. But once I’m walking again, it’s okay. So probably not that temple with the 1,700 stairs on this trip. But there are many options. And my back is an excuse to get another massage. *fingers crossed that it will help*

We’ve found ourselves invited to a fundraiser for animal charity Paws for a Cause to help spay/neutering clinics for the stray dogs. Should be fun. We ate lunch next to the British expat woman organizing it. She’s lived here for 5 years now. 🙂 And her niece was visiting from England (the niece happened to have been born in Seattle, too!!). They seem lovely, and it’s really a labor of love. While many dogs are owned and cared for, spaying/neutering is rarely done (not a concept folks know about and also prohibitively expensive). But to try to control the stray dog populations, Miss Donna has coordinated with vets from mainland Bali who make occasional trips to Lembongan island to perform discount surgeries fixing the dogs (in hopes of controlling population. Because official govt response is to send culling teams in). She seems to have a dedicated group of helpers. We wish them much luck.

We met a lovely German couple on our snorkeling trip, and saw them again at Bali Eco Deli (who run a “do it yourself” plastic bottle recycling program. Amazing. Small island with water that’s not good to drink, leads to so much plastic waste. If you bring in some plastic bottles for recycling, they give you 10% discount, too. And arrange to have it shipped by boat to mainland Bali for recycling). Also, their dragonfruit popsicles are delicious and beyond gorgeous.

We’ve invited Max and Rosa (the German couple) to the dog fundraiser this evening. Your ticket includes two drinks and a buffet. And there’ll be some kind of auction. Should be fun.

There’s been so much we’ve done already, but at the same time, rarely have we felt rushed. Which is the perfect way to vacation. The Alena Resort in Ubud was beyond amazing. We extended our stay there by two nights, we liked it so much. And they upgraded us to a villa with private pool!!!! But really, it was the people that made it perfect and feel like a home. In fact, they’d say, “welcome home” whenever we returned. I think that experience is going to be hard to beat. Yanni, who works in reservations, was so excited to meet me (because we’d been emailing) that when I said my name was Tracy, she yelled “Tracy Middlebrook” & ran over to give me a hug. She was so genuinely grateful that my emails had been very clear and simple to help explain the situation. (With Jessica’s missed flight, we needed to book an additional airport pickup for the next day, but I wanted to make sure they understood I would still be needing the original airport pickup for myself. This seemed like a situation that could be messed up even when everyone speaks the same language, so I wanted to make sure we all were on the same page.) I’d also emailed to make our original reservation, asking about the ability to book directly (many smaller places really appreciate this, as they don’t lose the fees to Expedia and other 3rd party sites). She was very appreciative of that, and gave us a discount for booking directly.

For meals, we mostly just wandered around town and picked a random place to eat. And it’s all been pretty damn tasty. Our last night, we had a destination to try the barbecue at Naughty Nuri’s. Yum! Super crowded. No frills. You share tables. And they serve you amazing grilled meats. Next door was “Room 4 Dessert”, run by a celebrity dessert chef from Manhattan who moved to Ubud. It’s super swanky. The styling was great. They have a rotating selection of fancy dessert creations each night.  We ordered the sampler (which gave us a small portion of all nine dishes).  They were a little horrified that we wanted to be done within one hour, but reluctantly agreed to serve the desserts two at a time, instead of individually. They were all beautiful and interesting, but I only loved 3 of them, thought 3 were okay, and 3 were just not for me. You can see some photos on Jessica’s Instagram.

Our final morning in Ubud, we headed to Ibu Oka, famous for their suckling pig. They open at 10:30am which is about when we arrived. We weren’t exactly hungry yet (having had breakfast at 8am), but we both managed to clean our plates. Yum!! The pigs are roasted off site and delivered by motorbike each morning. So tender. And crispy pork skin. Ridiculously good.

At the end of our 5 nights, many of the staff came running up to get a group photo and Yanti was even crying a little bit. Like I said, a little overwhelming, but so genuine and lovely. They expressed sadness we couldn’t stay one more night because they wanted to invite us to the gardener’s wedding. And a part of me thinks that that was a sincere invitation, rather than a nice thing to say. Wish we could’ve, but it was time to head to the coast!!!

Ubud makes for a great base. It’s a cool town, lots to see and do. And plenty of day trip options. We did spend one day exploring, visiting jatiluwih rice terraces, and several temples. And the cooking class we took with the chef at Alena Resort was lovely. Apparently we were the first to book the class (they just started offering it). It was a learning experience for everyone and so much fun. The chef is super sweet and a very good cook. He took us on an early morning tour of the market in Ubud, which sells food until 7am for the locals, and then switches over to arts and handicrafts for tourists. Really interesting to see. And then at the actual cooking class, we made so many dishes (5 courses), which we then ate. Well, ate some of. Delicious but too much food. One of the managers took many photos (as we were first to do this) & said they’ll email them to us. Some may be posted on their website, too. Jessica says we’re now famous in Bali. *laughs* The Resort printed out certificates that the chef signed, and even gave us printed recipes. Very cool.

But we needed some ocean time. Which is how we’re now in Padangbai, at an eco-resort on the cliffs above the harbor.  The view is amazing, and it’s an open room. Basically, like fancy camping. We have a roof and 3 walls, but the space is open to the environment.  Outdoor toilet and shower, too. Last night I realized there was a sizable lizard on the rocks a few feet from my showering self. He was cool. But he scurried away before I could dry off and return with my camera. Definitely the kind of place you’ve got to wear your house sandals and bring a flashlight when walking around at night. And there was nothing between me and the harbor last night of except a mosquito net. Very cool.

We wandered through the small town (maybe 30 little shops, food stands, and restaurants). Had poolside drinks at the swanky place in town, and a kitty came by to join us.  Lovely relaxing evening.

Also very glad I packed earplugs and a sleep mask, just in case. While I might have been able to sleep with all the noisy frogs and insects, the ferry horns and harbor loudspeaker announcements would have been tougher to sleep through.

I’m off for a massage shortly, which should be amazing (& hopefully helpful because I tweaked my back yesterday).

My ability to speak a few limited phrases in the Indonesian language has been the greatest thing ever! Many folks continue to react like I’ve performed a magic trick, when I’ve just said “good afternoon,” but apparently my pronunciation is good (or more likely, possibly just better than some tourists, and/or they’re being polite). When the person I’m speaking with gets super excited, if I just say one or two of the other very simple phrases I learned (“please don’t make it too spicy” “it’s a pleasure to meet you” “may I have a bottle of water?”), it can be the reaction a group of parents give to a small child, or dog, who has performed a trick. The guidebooks did say the Balinese are super friendly and will want to ask you many questions about yourself and your life (true so far), but the fact that I can say the names of food (chicken, pork, fish) continues to be greeted with delighted laughter.

About a month before we left for this trip, I remembered how hard it had been, when I was in Borneo ten years ago, to learn Malaysian. Took us almost a week just to remember “good morning” & “thank you,” and that’s about as far as we got. So this time I started looking online for a language program. Bahasa Indonesia was not on DuoLingo, but I found www.learningindonesian.com The Learning Indonesian podcast. It was free and it was great!! After only using it for three weeks (they’re 8 minute episodes. I’d listen a few times a week when commuting), I’m surprised at how quickly it prepared me to actually be conversational. (I mean, it’s really basic stuff and sometimes just a few broken words, but my point can generally be made). And because it’s audio based, I think that really helped with my pronunciation, as I just learned it by ear.

Jessica has started calling me her tour guide. *smile*

Want to know a great way to concern your waiter? Order the chicken satay but the vegetarian noodles. She was so worried, trying to verify and make sure I knew the chicken satay had, well, chicken in it. But I was able to say “No fish. Yes chicken.” and she looked so relieved (the noodle dish was offered with seafood or tofu). Also, she spoke beautiful English herself, I found out a few stumbled sentences of Indonesian later. Ha. Still, it’s fun. 🙂 The food was delicious, too, at Laughing Buddha in Ubud. Cute spot, with live music at night, although I was there for lunch.

The other common response to my tiny bit of Indonesian, after they express surprise, is a suggestion or command that now I need to learn Balinese. (“Like, that’s great you speak Indonesian and all, but now learn this whole other language right away”). This is then followed by them speaking a lot of phrases very quickly (flashbacks to my trying to “pick up” Malaysian in Borneo). Slow down. It’s too much and too fast. It’s all in good spirits, though, and it’s from folks who all speak Balinese and Indonesian (National language) fluently and then have some English for working around tourists. And maybe even more languages. The groundskeeper we chatted with at Monkey Forest, after learning Jessica was of Korean heritage, explained he’s learned Korean because their are many tourists from there as well.

Mostly it seems folks are super proud of their island and heritage, as they should be, and so they want me to learn their native tongue, too. Rather than just the national language of all of Indonesia. Plus, since Bali is the only Hindu island, they’ve always set themselves apart a bit.

People continue to ask how long I’ve been in Indonesia, or how many trips I’ve taken before. When I say it’s my first time and/or that we just arrived 3 days ago, they are so puzzled. How did you learn? And I just tell them that I learned it on the Internet. 🙂 Which sort of stymies the conversation for a moment. But it’s the truth and I don’t have a better response to offer. But it’s clearly not a reason they’re given often.

One of the hotel employees was telling me my use of Bahasa Indonesia would be very useful at the market, because my ability to ask “what is the price?” & then respond “too expensive,” will make folks think I’ve been in Indonesia for awhile, so they’ll only try to overcharge me a little bit, rather than a lot. I don’t know if that was entirely true, but I’m pretty happy with my two purchases today. Also, I’m just not interested in bargaining hard over a few dollars. I mean, it’s expected and kind of fun to do the back and forth. But I just don’t mind paying $8 for a wood carving, even if I think maybe it should only be $5. The minimum wage in Bali is around $150 us dollar per month! (& for rice farmers and others without an employer, I’m sure there’s no guaranteed wage). So a few extra dollars is big to some here, and won’t affect me. (also I have no frame of reference for handicrafts pricing here. Maybe that statue should only have been $2. But if I’ve negotiated down to a price I’m comfortable with, there’s just no need for me to worry about whether someone else might get it first cheaper.

I believe that it’s my job to tip generously and occasionally be overcharged when traveling, esp in the developing world. People have to make a living. And tourism is a big industry.

And my, “use Indonesian to sound like a long time resident” plan is dampened by the fact that the numbers and prices are so large. One US dollar is $13,300 rupiah. And all prices are basically in tens of thousands & hundred thousands. And I’m still very slow at large numbers. Ha. But folks have been very kind about repeating the price slowly (“one hundred and eighty thousand”) or they just then say it in English. *laughs*

So, we went to the monkey forest in Ubud this morning. It was kind of amazing and the best thing ever!! But we’re doing a cooking class tomorrow and have to get up very early to go with the chef to the market, so I’ll write up descriptions later. Just going to upload a few photos. Also, FYI, I took pictures with my real camera, so I’m uploading phone pics of the display screen on my digital camera. So, ya know, the quality isn’t great. Monkeys!!!!!!!!!!!!

At baggage claim, my inner thoughts, “Well, I hope Jessica doesn’t mind the smell of AVON skin so soft, because apparently my small spray bottle leaked all over my bag.” Darn it. And I almost always double plastic bag my toiletries, too, for situations just like this. Ah well. Maybe it’ll be some added mosquito repellent (although I think that claim was disproved years ago). And then my inner thoughts early evening, checking into hotel room, “Oh, that’s right, everything is going to end up smelling like DEET bug spray anyway (not today, we say to Dengue Fever and Japanese Encephalitis. Not today!!) so having this other weird scent mixed in will just be a unique Bali memory/combination.” And my malaria pills have to be taken with food, so I’ve ordered room service for one. I’m not generally a “room service” person. I prefer to be out and about, experiencing things. But as I’ll be spending this first day solo, and I’ve got to unpack and spread out my skin-so-soft affected items, just seems easiest tonight.

So, why am I solo right now? Because Jessica had a major mishap/disaster and ended up missing her flight. Holy crap! When she called to tell me, my heart and stomach sunk into the floor. And at the end of our conversation, I asked her if she’d about thrown up… Because I think I would’ve. What a nightmare. And it was initially compounded by fact that DELTA told her the rebooking fee would be $5,000!!!!!!!! WTF!?! That’s almost twice what we expect to spend on this entire two week trip. Jess is a super competent person who keeps her cool in times of stress and was able to find a way to rebook (only delaying her arrival by 26 hours) for a more reasonable fee. Still sucks a lot that she loses a day and several hundred dollars. But she still gets to join me for adventure!! Thank goodness. When she called to tell me, I feared the conclusion of the call would be that she wouldn’t be coming to Bali. So, *huge sigh of relief* That’s how I ate some fried rice and a cup of soup, which had those insanely spicy tiny peppers in it. Hoo boy, my mouth is still on fire! Terlalu Pedas! (Indonesian for “too spicy”). But also tasty…with a side of burning! Forgot about that in my travel addled brain.

EVA air was very nice. I managed to sleep okay for 4 hours and then another 2 hours of fitful sleep. My seat lying back flat was super cool. But the design does only have this small cubby hole for your feet, and the wall curves next to the cubby hole, so I couldn’t fully stretch out my left leg. Strange and uncomfortable. Still, pretty dang cool. And the shredded pork pancake and taro congee for breakfast was really delicious… Not just hood for airplane food… Actually good. Flight staff were so helpful, too.

During my layover in Taipei, the heavens parted, and a miraculous light led me to a thing I’d only heard tell of, and I was able to take a shower after 13 hr on a plane before facing my next multi hour flight. And NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME. (also, how is everything a Hamilton lyric, still, months and months later. Everything is a Hamilton lyric) Why oh why aren’t showers available at every airport?!?! So refreshing. I felt like a human again. Also, shout out to the fellow passenger I met at the lounge snack area. It was 6am local time so I poured myself a Kahlua over ice, because it seemed the most breakfast drink of the limited options. Ha. And this man, after saying, “that looks good” made it a personal quest to turn my drink into a white Russian. The vodka was easy, as it was next to the other liquor bottles. But milk proved tougher. There was a soy milk on offer, but no thank you. Told him I was fine drinking a black Russian, but somehow this drink quest was super important to him. The Dude’s spirit was strong in him. Eventually he returned with a small creamer packet from the coffee station. It did make for a much prettier drink. Plus, adorable stir stick with a fat little plane on top!

Sadly almost all of the on board movies had been edited for content, and I want to see the full version, Dammit. So I watched the new Resident Evil during dinner as we flew out from Seattle. Perfect Red eye plane movie. And for the flight from Taiwan to Denpasar, I watched German film “Toni Erdmann” (because Empire Magazine said it was good last month, and I think it did well at Cannes, too). And it was good. Although 2 hr and 45 minutes!! That’s pretty extreme and unnecessary. Still, it held my attention and was quite good. And as I was trapped on the plane for several more hours, being longer was fine.

Oh Hooray. Just looked at the clock. It’s 8:30 local time, so not an unreasonable time for going to bed. Can’t let the jet lag convince you to take a nap or go to bed early, or you’ll never catch up. But now, this counts as sleeping time for people.

I’ll explore the town of Ubud tomorrow and then Jessica will get in around dinner time. I’ve already promised to have a drink waiting. What an ordeal. I’m so happy she’s still able to come adventuring.

Oh my God!!! A gecko just started screaming in my room. I’m so glad I’d read a few travel memoirs and blogs before I came here, or that loud unexpected call would’ve freaked me out! And I’d never have guessed a cute little gecko was making it. 🙂

… And so it begins. Almost. Sort of. At least, it’s the final stage of waiting at the airport gate, before boarding the plane. Which won’t happen for 1.5 hours. Still, nice to be here, bag checked, through security. Just “enjoyed” a Cup O’ Noodles for the first time since college (the only offering, besides nuts, in the lounge at 11:40pm. #Memories)

Befriended by a nice woman in the security line. She was off to Bangkok for two weeks to visit family. And she was so tickled that I was also going to Southeast Asia. That was apparently enough of a connection for her to decide we should hang out. I’m normally the “overly (by Seattle standards) friendly to strangers” person in my group. It was a bit startling to be on the receiving end. But also really nice. Hooray for human connections.

So, how did I get here? This winter I received one of the best emails a person can receive; my pal Jessica asking, “wanna take a trip somewhere?” To which I answered enthusiastically, “Yes! Absolutely. When? Where? Let’s make this happen!!!!” This is the first travel adventure of mine where the flights were booked before I’d done a lot of travel dreaming and researching about the destination. (I’ve been on a search for my next dream destination for a few years now). In fact, we were basically spinning a globe, overwhelmed at the choices. We settled on Thailand, and then found that May is still monsoon season. Nix Thailand. Found that Bali in Indonesia is supposed to be lovely in May/June. Rains end in April but it doesn’t get crowded or expensive until July when the Australian tourists flood in. Perfect. (but someone forgot to tell this predicted weather pattern to the Weather Gods, as forecast calls for clouds, rain, and thunderstorms. But adventure awaits, even if it’ll be a soggier adventure than originally anticipated). Also, I am not expecting sympathy for this. “woe is me. My amazing two week trip is going to have sub-par weather. Cue the world’s tiniest violin.” *laughs*

Jessica lives in Michigan, and I was initially very unhappy about the prospect of such long flights in coach without a buddy. Even considering maybe having her fly to Seattle first so we could go together (because the universe is capricious, she ended up having a work contract in Seattle right now, so had to fly back to Michigan to take her flight). (I initially typed, the “universe loves irony,” but ever since that Alanis Morissette song, I’m gun shy about using ‘irony’ incorrectly. Plus, capricious is a much more satisfying word). I then had a wonderful idea: maybe I can take this trip with miles. And I could, and am. Seeing I had enough for business class, I may have hooted aloud, by myself, at my computer. International business class is THE dream!! I’ve watched a fair amount of YouTube Videos of different cabin experiences. The fact that my seat will become a bed is beyond amazing!! Had some issues trying to actually book the rewards travel, though. Some airlines don’t update their partners when mileage seats are no longer available. So it was a frustrating three days, as I felt like this DREAM of business class was evaporating before my eyes… Each time I’d pick a flight, fill out all the information, submit credit card to pay for the taxes, and then get an error message. Getting all the way to final booking page to get yet another error message. *cries* Until someone suggested I try booking one way. Success!!!!!! This also means I’ll be circumnavigating the globe! And trying out two new airlines for me. I fly through Taiwan on the way there with Eva and will be flying home with Emirates through Dubai and then LAX (ugh!). Not my favorite airport. But I’m really looking forward to exploring Taipei and Dubai airports. And I find the idea of flying AROUND THE WORLD terribly romantic.

Whelp, typing this stream of consciousness ramble has taken up 30 minutes. Excellent.

About to be on my way to find monkeys, visit Hindu Temples, go snorkeling, eat amazing food, CANNOT wait. Do an online image search for the Jatiluwih Rice Terraces, a UNESCO site. Excitement!!!!!! Honestly, most image searches for Bali are pleasing.

(Edited to add: Included a picture at the top of the EVA flight in business class so this post wouldn’t be bare.  Even though, strictly speaking, that is not chronologically accurate since the post happened prior to boarding.)