My Oceanic and Asian Adventure

 oceanic and Asian Adventure days 1 and 2: My route to Bali was rather circuitous, but it allowed me to check off Oceania. I lost a full day as I traveled through the air from Los Angeles to Fiji. When I landed in Fiji, I tried to get out of the airport to see a few things, but airport security was not having it. They said that 2 hours was not enough time to go outside the airport and then get back in in time for my next flight. Imagine my consternation. My flight was an extra half hour to 45 minutes late leaving, but Such is life. I then flew to Melbourne, which had a little longer layover, so I got out and walked around outside the airport and saw a little bit of Australia. I'm counting being both in Fiji and in Australia, because I did get to the ground floor in Fiji, and spent some time in Australia, which crosses off the Oceanic continent. I also get to explore Asia for the first time. When I landed in Bali, I walked out the airport, and looked for the people I was supposed to meet up with. James and Andrea were waiting for me, with our driver wayann. Driving to our hotel for the night was a little crazy, because there were scooters weaving in and out of lanes, but Wayne didn't seem to mind too much, and drove adeptly where we needed to go. The hotel seemed really cool, with a large Central area, and it looked like we might be the only ones in the place. Place. So that would be good for being able to get to know other people and play games together after our days in Bali. Since it was late, I went and took a shower, got ready for bed, and fell asleep almost immediately. This was kind of surprising to me, since I had slept almost the entire 6-hour flight from Melbourne to Bali. I guess my body was just tired of all the travel! 

Bali day one was amazing. This is a beautiful island!

The roads are crazy and I’ve never seen so many scooters in one place.

We have busses and a tour guide (Putu and Wayann) that picks us up each day. I’m glad we don’t have to figure out how to navigate the traffic chaos.

I tried a bitter lime at breakfast. It was pretty good! I’m not sure if it goes with anything.  

First - a move to a different hotel…. While it looked beautiful in the pics, there were enough issues we couldn’t stay…. Apparently some women found some rats, and others found it pretty dirty. I didn't have any problems, but when women are grossed out, we move! Then a tour so see the giant Hindu statues, chicken satay for lunch, the beach in “Eat, Pray, Love”, a fire show, bougie seafood dinner on the beach. (I got the seafood, and it was... interesting. They slapped everything on the grill, then slapped it on the plate. No bones removed on the fish, no utensils to crack the crab!

Long and great day!

Bali day 2: we’re already exhausted and enjoying every minute. There are 25 in ur group fo Bali and everyone is really fun!

Our new hotel is bougie with a breakfast spread for a king. 

Our adventure started by going to an art village where they make hand-made textiles sealing the color in by using wax. Then a hand-made jewelry design company and got to see the workers making the pieces. 

Before lunch, we went to a Hindu temple, got all dressed up and learned that each village has 2 temples. Each family has their own temple and when you get married, you have to build your family temple.

Our tour guide is great in answering all of our questions and teaching us about his culture.

Delicious lunch with Spumoni ice cream (they love their gelato here) then off to the rice terraces. In the middle of the island, with the lush green jungle.   

We raced to another palace before it closed for the day. This temple holds a sacred purification ritual by praying and following specific steps to be cleansed, including wearing a sarong (robe) and washing yourself under about 20 spouts of water, putting your hands against the wall and letting it wash over your head and back. It was quite nice to be in the cool water with how hot it is here!

Finally a beautiful AND delicious dinner in small huts on the edge of a rice bog. It was beautiful!  We even made new friends with all the beetles that were attracted to the light.  😂

It’s only been two days and I already love this place. We’ve seen the south and central part of the island and so excited to see more.

Bali day 3 has been my favorite so far.

We first visited Taman Ayun, a kings palace from the 17th century.  The grounds and architecture were stunning to say the least.

Our next stop was at a chocolate factory. Willy unfortunately couldn’t join us 😂.   The place smelled like fresh baked brownies. We got to try the raw cocoa (cocoa nibs) in addition to 23 other flavors ranging from plain milk chocolate to spicy mango or watermelon chocolate.

From there we traveled up into the mountains to see Daya Tarik Wisata Ulum Danu Beratan. This temple sits on a large lake with the mountains in the background. This is my happy place!!! We had a yummy buffet style lunch in the restaurant there then explored the beautiful grounds. You could also rent tradition royal clothing and get professionally styled pictures.

Our 3rd temple of the day was at 

Luhur Tannah Lot which sits on the beach. During low tide you can cross and get a blessing from the priests, get cleansed and part of the process is putting rice on your forehead.  The temple is not accessible during high tide.  Visitors are not allowed to enter this temple, only the priests.

Just up the hill is a small park where there was live music and guys that wanted us to hold large snakes.  I passed.

Finally ended the day with a yummy dinner. While we waited for dinner we played on the swings and took advantage of the great photo ops. I added The restaurant on Instagram and put up a picture, so they would give me a free strawberry ice cream!

Came back to our made up room. It's nice to have air conditioning... it's always so hot and humid here!

Tomorrow is some healing and relaxing beach and poolside… we’re definitely looking forward to it.

Bali day 4

the day started out again with breakfast at the hotel. There’s a non Halal table that has bacon and a sign that says: “Pork products” with a pigs head for the “o”.  It's nice to have some bacon!

First stop was at a Balinese wellness center where the priest prayed for us to invite the good energy. Then got a special blessing for alignment and healing.

I sat near the front of the van for the first time on the way to the next stop and got a much better view of the traffic chaos.  I’ve decided the lines on the road are probably just artwork as they are clearly just a suggestion. 

The rest of the day was spent at Finns beach club. It’s the best beach club in the world and has won awards and I can see why. The food was great, sipped on cokes and virgin margaritas with hot chili peppers in them, while relaxing pool and beachside.

I was surrounded by the older women and they lifted me up for a picture.

Gelato is very popular here. It feels like there is gelato shop on every corner.  So after a  lunch of Balinese beef, I got 2 scoops. Super yummy and refreshing on a hot day.

The dance music was stellar and randomly had staff in different disco ball style masks or outfits to hype the crowd.

 It was fun to go out on the beach and play in the ocean as well.

I keep forgetting when crossing the street you have to watch for mopeds too. It's crazy around here!

What a great and much needed day of R & R. 

Bali day 5

We got an early start because our first stop was 2.5 hours from our hotel. Most of the drive was in the lush rainforest and clearly in more rural areas. It was beautiful and what I pictured when I think of Bali. We had been driving through a lot of the urban areas and was nice to see a different side. We first went to Tirta Gangga- the Water Temple.  As we were walking in, there were vendors selling fish food to feed the Koi. One stall had

enormous bats, snakes and other reptiles for people to pay to hold and get a pic. Again, I passed. Not worth it!

This is an amazing temple located in the mountains with a bunch of ponds and fountains. The Koi fish are clearly well fed and many of them are the size of  small dog and just as round.

Alex had us doing boomerangs (a camera feature) in several areas of the grounds… honestly it was my first time and was hilarious!

We got in the vans to literally go around the corner for lunch next to a beautiful rice field. I got fish in a banana leaf, and loved it!  That’s right people, I'm trying the local food!!!

We then hiked the very steep hill to Heaven’s Gate and explored the grounds. Same as yesterday, we followed the rules, even the strange ones. Alex found a girl to be our photo director and took several videos of us doing all sorts of things. 

Our last stop was a historic village. We learned that the men are each given land to work and preserve the culture. Part of the deal is they can’t leave. We never got clarity if that meant move away or leave the premises at all. I’ll have to look more into that later.

They make crafts so sell, calendars and god prints on palm leaves - not paper. Carved hibiscus wood into eggs and paint them. Both were beautiful!

Another great day today. We’ve got the morning free before heading to the airport and flying to Thailand.

We’re tired, having a blast and looking forward to more adventures.

Day 6 - goodbye Bali, hello Phuket!

 We had our last delicious breakfast at the hotel. The staff lined up to sing happy birthday to Jeremy. He turned the big 50 today.

Some of our friends went shopping or got massages. Daniel and I decided to create our own adventure, and we got a couple of guys to take us to the Bali version of REI on mopeds! It was an interesting experience to ride through the streets on a moped, and definitely faster than in a bus. Definitely a cultural experience. Daniel said that his driver offered to help him meet a nice lady for a few hours, 🤣 but Daniel said that we had to get back.

A few of our friends left for the US. The other 21 of us headed off to Thailand.

It took 30 min to go 1.4 miles to the airport (again, traffic is nuts) where we said goodbye to our amazing tour guide, Putu and the drivers.

The flight to Thailand was slightly delayed, but after a 4 hour flight we did make it. 

Customs was a treat. The lady was scary and yelled at us a few times. I did not feel very welcome to Phuket, though. The sign said it.

It was after 10 by the time we got to the hotel. Had a quick dinner then off to bed.

Thailand day 1 - tigers and elephants and bees. Oh my!

Breakfast at the hotel

Weather started out cooler than Bali. But quickly became just as hot

One of my friends named Kenna pretended to pet the big Tiger (she did get whacked by the tail which totally freaked her out!), and I petted two of the largest, getting a cool framed photo with one.

We then went up the hill to the Big Buddha temple and statue overlooking the coast, beautiful views.

Just down the hill I and a few other friends let the elephants hug and kiss us . A very interesting feeling! I commented that at least the elephants will kiss you after you feed them dinner, which I'm not sure many of the women appreciated.

We then went to the most beautiful temple. Chalong temple was built in the 19th century. This is considered a modern temple. You can burn your wishes and they go off like fire crackers.

Our guide then took us to a “souvenir shop” which was actually a beautiful jewelry shop that looked all ghetto on the outside.

Bee farm was very cool, we got to hold the bees, saw the largest hive in Asia, built by 5 million bees. We also had a tasting of 3 different honeys, bee milk is gross, but delicious when they mix it with honey and other things. Don't ask me how they milk the bees, but apparently is what the worker bees eat.

Our last stop was to a cashew factory where we tasted  about 20 flavors of cashews. Did you know that they grow on trees and the fruit only produces one seed (the nut)?  We watched the ladies crack the shell to separate the nut. No wonder they are pricey… a lot of work for only one nut.

We had a few hours of free time before dinner. Daniel found out that there was a Muay Thai fight that night, so we found someone selling tickets, and I bought some. It was a little bit sketchy, because the guy just wrote that we had tickets on a piece of paper, and told us that we were supposed to present that at the gate. Gate. We were a little worried, but went through with it anyway, because we got a lower price and VIP tickets right next to the ring, and it included T-shirts! Note: zero spice in Thailand is about a 3 in the US. A few people had a hard time with the level of spice.

The restaurant put on an amazing fire show on the beach, which I got to see a small part of before leaving for the Muay Thai fight. Then Daniel and I hustled over to the fight, and were surprised when it actually worked to use our paper to get in! It was pretty amazing being ringside, and we were sprayed by water a few times as the competitors hit each other. I'm not a big fight guy, but it was an experience. I hope not to forget. We ended up getting home at around 11:15 and went right to bed. It was a great day.

Thailand day 2 - Boat tour of the Phi Phi islands.

To say they are breathtaking is an understatement. We got on boats that took us around two different islands, including one that was a national park. That were used in filming pirates of the Caribbean and one of the James Bond movies. Though colors of the water were amazing, and the islands were beautiful! I had some trouble with my feet, because Sam got in and rubbed against them, so I was in a little bit of pain, but I still enjoyed the day something that a lot of people don't get to experience! 

Thailand day 3 - rafting or bumper boat? We’re still not quite sure.

Our first stop was at the monkey palace. There were a million pigeons and monkeys waiting to be fed.

Then a quick zip line before “white water rafting”. The quotes are necessary.  They put us in our boats while we waited about 40 min to “raft” in what looked like a VERY shallow creek.  Then all of the sudden chaos ensued. They released the water and within a minute we had white water. They rushed us into the river (yes, it’s now a river) with a million other boats to race down the river before the water ran out. It was like the Bali traffic…. Boats everywhere crashing into each other, one flipped pretty quickly. Hope they found the people, cause all we saw was an empty raft on its side.

Our guide was super fun, splashing us, scaring people in other boats and splashing them in the face when they looked his way. My favorite was when he yelled, “boom” right before we hit a big rock.

We didn’t beat the water. We got stuck on rocks and had to wait about 15 min for the next release of water. We stayed cool with the guide and his helper splashing us. Our guide picked flowers for the girls while we waited. The water finally came and we made it to the unloading zone.

Quick lunch at the “camp" where we launched. Then off to a quick hike to a waterfall.

I got to ride on the back of an elephant, which was amazing! The guy who was driving the elephant sat on its head, and poked it to move. We went through a small pond, and the elephant splashed us by throwing water over its back through its trunk. We followed about a quarter mile loop, where it dropped us back off at the platform we started at. Then we got to see the baby elephant and watch him do some tricks.

Then some ATVs before our 2+ hour trek (rush hour traffic) back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

We were picked up for dinner by vehicles that had flashing lights, and the ability to play music in them. Them. They dropped us off at this. Really cool restaurant where I tried squid ink pasta with crab in it. I thought it was pretty tasty, and my new friends thought it was hilarious because my smile turned black pretty quickly! My sunburned from the beach resort had finally gone down a little bit, so I felt confident in going to get a massage. I've never had a massage before, but that woman really got the knots out! She told me to lay down, and I had heard that when getting a full body massage you were supposed to remove all of your clothes. So I took off all of my clothes and laid down on the mat, putting the blanket on top of me. The lady came in and asked me to move a little bit. I felt a little self-conscious being naked under the sheet, but tried to do what she asked., and asked: you have boxers? I responded that I did, but was unaware that I was supposed to be wearing them. She just laughed and got to work. During the massage, she took a 2-minute break at which point I decided to put on my boxers. When I related this story to my friends later, they laughed, and said that normally you are supposed to be fully unclothed. So I'm still not sure which was right. After that, I visited the number one nightclub in Asia and the number nine in the world. I'm not much into dancing or nightclubs, so I wasn't really impressed. But I wanted to see what it was like in Asia. And I did get to see some acrobats perform, so that was pretty neat. Otherwise, it was pretty loud, and not many people were actually dancing. 

Thailand day 4 -R & R

Last day… slept in a little , then went on a long walk on the beach! Half of the beach was super pretty, with great Beach, people parasailing, and beautiful water. Walking the other half of the beach felt like I was in a completely different place. There was seaweed littering the beach, the water was greener, and was kind of gross. The weather was warm, and I enjoyed the walk, and a few friends joined me for the second part. Then I went to the rooftop pool at our hotel, which was amazing. Amazing. I also got to try McDonald's in Thailand, and they had some interesting menu items. I tried the garlic, black pepper, McNuggets, and the cheese and spinach pie. It was quite tasty! Then I grabbed some mango sticky rice before hurrying back to catch the bus to the airport. Overnight flight to South Korea. 

1 day in Korea.

I had an 8-hour layover in Korea, and there was a cool program they have there that allows people who have long layovers to go see interesting things. So I jumped on the bus, and they took us us a peace monument on the border of South and North Korea, where you could look through binoculars to see people and a village in North Korea. On the way up, it was quite cloudy, and not very pretty. I told my travel companions that I had faith that would clear up on the way and right as we arrived at the monument, the sky cleared, and we were able to see everything very clearly. It was a miracle! I walked around the monument, and saw all that I could see. Then I grabbed the obligatory refrigerator. Took some pictures in traditional Korean clothes, and headed back to the airport. I had another long 8-hour late over in Seattle, which I used to go see Pike's market. Market, I saw a cool view of the space Needle from there, and felt like I used the time pretty wisely. I even got to listen to some of general conference while I waited. I spent almost 36 hours between the flights and the weights, but it was a pretty cool trip home!