Exploring Bali

Sometimes we just wander around on the motorbike not knowing what we’ll run into, I guess you could say we have a lot of time on our hands Anyways, here’s some stuff we thought was interesting. First is a photo of the karate class in the town square. Driving around in the early evening, so many people are out and about, riding their bike home from school or playing volleyball or just sitting in the warungs (cafes) talking.

Next is a photo of us in a typical warung sipping on a coffee and milkshake. Seating here was on the floor; luckily they gave us pillows for our gringo butts!

Here is a photo we came across of the most packed van we’ve ever seen….final count: 11 people

Not sure? We must have gotten lost along the way or something….

And you can’t miss the endless ride paddies…

Moving day! We had to say goodbye to our villa and move on to our next home. Not too many tears as our next “villa” is also awesome and found with the help of our new neighbors, Detlef and Marianna from Germany. With their special visa, they are able to live here several months out of the year! They fell in love with this place on their first here, that they cancelled their European vacation. It is also tempting to just stay here until November! The owner of the complex, Yusa is a landscaper, so you can imagine that the gardens are beautiful!! (see photos below). We love our new place and neighbors! And our new pet, the gecko:)

Nacho Mama

Tonight we were invited to Ubud by our new friend Yusa to watch his brothers play in a small concert. We even stopped for dinner at “Nacho Mama”. No nachos for us though…, just a big plate of soooo spicy spare ribs with REAL BBQ sauce! The concert was extraordinary; we really have never heard anything like him and were completely blown away by his talent. His brother had two guitars made into one especially for him, so he could play bass and treble at the same time! Yusa reports that during one of his European tours, White Snake's guitarist's jaw dropped. ok video is not wanting to upload... maybe another time

Night at the Opera

Tonight we were invited to Ubud by our new friend Yusa to watch his brothers play in a small concert. We even stopped for dinner at “Nacho Mama”. No nachos for us though… just a big plate of soooo spicy spare ribs with REAL BBQ sauce! The concert was extraordinary at the Warung Opera; we really have never heard anything like him and were completely blown away by his talent. His brother had two guitars made into one especially for him, so he could play bass and treble and everything in-between. (wish our video was able to be uploaded... you'll have to live with photos which don't do them justice)

Spa Packages?

What better way to start the day than with a Balinese massage! I think it will be difficult to talk Lori into leaving. Although we paid a little more for this massage, we later found we can get one in town for $6/hr! So we think that we’ll just enjoy one everyday. “When in Rome”…(Lori wrote that)

Anders is quite a natural on the motorbike! He rides like a local and is great at navigating these dangerous, congested, and often confusing roads. I think I would probably get lost if I was left to my own devices. Today we rode 15 km to a little town called Ubud. Lori and I like that name. We think we’ll name our first son Ubud. Sorry Mom and Dad, we’re not prego, just picking out names.

They tried selling us a map for $12, but would you believe that is equivalent to 4 days pay for a local? Maybe that is why we don’t get so upset when the Laundromat bleaches our nice shirts- I’ve begun to call the bleach spots ‘character’.

It was great to see the little villages along the way and see some of the “real Bali” as Ubud is pretty touristy. We saw so many great ideas, we tried to catch everything while riding by, as some photos may look a bit blurry as we flew by! We even saw a small woman carrying a 5-gallon water bottle on her head and with no hands, wish I could do that!

Tonight we were invited out to dinner by the kind resort owner Mr. Ferry. He took us to an amazing restaurant called Mades Warung, near Kuta, serving everything from hamburgers to traditional Balinese dishes. At his delight, we opted for the local food, of course… They didn’t try to cheat Anders on his Red Snapper order. He received the entire fish, eye balls and all! The food was completely delicious and the conversation even better; Ferry, in his excellent English, told us all about Indonesia and his views of American politics. Being one of the few international McCain supporters we've located, he seemed to know more than most Americans! He also invited us to come visit his home in Jakarta and cabin in the mountains where he'd teach us how to make a traditional Indonesian dish. I suppose we'll be able to squeeze that in on the way out of town...

Our Day of Spontaneity!

Instead of “winging it” we figured it was time to make a more decisive plan for the day. We scheduled a much needed massage, shuttle service, then headed into town for more Bakso takeout to have a nice lunch out on our veranda.
While roaming the streets of Sukawati, we ran into a local, parked in the middle of the street as if she owned the road. Her name was Dwie, who was headed back to her village and offered to give us a ride. She seemed rich by Bali standards and harmless so we borrowed her cell phone, canceled our schedule, and hopped right in! She took us around on her business and personal errands- dropping off her kids, delivering wood stumps to be carved into her ‘handicrafts’, visiting our villa (I think she thought we were really rich, lol), then had coffee at her new home, while learning all about her past 32 years of marriage- that’s just too long of a story. We later met her husband who showed us his teak wood carving shop, then tried selling us a shipping container of his furniture! At least it wasn’t as complete as a timeshare speech and not as pushy as a used car salesman!