Clever Paul came up with the brilliant idea of Dad and I spending a long weekend in Bali during his stay with us while Paul looked after the boys. Pure genius, if you ask me. And this is what we got up to:
Day 1 ~ After a very late arrival the night before, we probably would have been wise to sleep in, but not these intrepid travelers! Nope, we signed up for a Balinese cooking class with a 7am pickup. I'm sure glad we did, because it was a heck of a lot of fun. I'm not sure whether my dad or I will ever replicate from scratch any of the things that we learned to make that morning (and when I say scratch I mean grating the coconut and then mixing with water in order to squeeze out the coconut milk, grinding the herbs with mortar and pestle, and making the rice paper from rice flour and water), but we sure had a great time learning new skills and eating ourselves silly with fantastic Indonesian specialties, like beef rendang, spring rolls, chicken satay, fish wrapped in banana leaves and black rice pudding.
After a trip to Hardy's (the one stop shop for all your grocery, souvenir, burned DVD needs) and an afternoon nap, I treated my dad for dinner and dessert. Dinner was at a recommended warung "Little Bird" where we each got a beer and a massive and oh-so-delicious meal for a mere $10 total. For dessert, I introduced my dad to Sanur's night market and the yummy chocolate banana pancake thingies one can find there. Grand total for a great night out including taxi: $16. And this is just one of the reasons that I love Bali.
Day 2 ~ The next day I showed my dad the lively path that runs the whole distance of Sanur Beach. I had wanted to show him the bonsai gardens that Cara and I loved so much on my last trip to Bali, but they had all but vanished. Instead we walked along the beach, admiring the fishing boats and fat-tired bicycles for way more kms than I planned. Sorry again, Dad.
That afternoon, our lovely driver Putra picked us up to take us to Uluwato, a gorgeous temple on the southern cliffs of Bali where we were treated to the Kecuk fire performance which involved a whole mess of bare-chested men chanting "chek, chek, chek", several performers dressed as monkeys for comic relief, and a very weak plot line. Fortunately, we were rewarded for sitting through the show with quite an exciting finale which featured the monkeys jumping through fire and doing away with the evil ogre bad guys.
We probably should have called it quits after that, but we decided to continue to Jimbaran Bay for the touristy meal on the beach (typical part of the typical Uluwato tour). We were seated at one of the hundreds of tables on the beach that ran for as far as the eye could see in either direction. Each restaurant had their own stage, and throughout the evening we could scan up and down the beach and observe the dancers do their thing. (Balinese dance is beautiful and interesting for approximately two minutes. After that, I glaze over. I'm not saying that the dancers aren't talented, it's just that the movements are so understated and precise, it lacks 'wow factor'. On the other hand, the costumes, makeup and facial expressions are so over the top, I find myself feeling embarrassed for the beautiful and I'm sure very lovely dancers. I end up feeling really awkward.)
Dad was unlucky and offered to treat for dinner that night. $80 later we walked away with my jaw dragging on the sand. The meal was great but dang! I thought we were in Bali.
Day 3 ~ Putra picked us up in the morning and took us on a day tour to some of the touristy sites in the mountains, including one of the largest volcanoes in Bali, Mount Batur. On the way we visited the villages well known for stone carving, silversmithing, and batiking, and Dad bought himself one dapper Batik shirt. We also visited rice terraces, a waterfall, a traditional Balinese home complete with fighting chickens and one very smelly pig, and toured a coffee luwak plantation where we were able to see firsthand the funny little rodents who eat and then poo out the coffee beans that then become worth more than the price of gold. One of my favourite stops of the day was at Tampaksiring, the holy water temple. The temple and gardens were just beautiful, and it was also really fun getting a glimpse of the Balinese President's home which sat on a hill overlooking the temple.
The last stop of the day (before a visit to our driver Putra's home to meet his lovely wife and son) was the monkey forest of Ubud. The monkeys had just been given their dinner so they weren't quite so aggressive as I remembered (we only observed one tourist with a monkey bite), but the forest and the darling baby monkeys were every bit as beautiful as I found them on my first visit. I just love the stone carvings and the amazing trees with roots that defy the laws of physics. I think Dad was impressed too.
Day 4 ~ The last day in Bali was a day for just kicking back. Kicking back reading books by the pool, kicking back whilst getting a massage on the beach, and kicking back drinking our last Bintangs and eating our last mie/nasi gorengs.
It was a pretty awesome little getaway, and I feel so lucky to have been able to have a little father-daughter holiday and introduce my dad to Southeast Asia before he embarks on his four-week trip around Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
