We spent our last hours in Indonesia in Kuta, the beating heart of Bali's lively tourism industry. We picked up a few gifts for family and friends, and had lunch at an Indian restaurant. I honestly wasn't expecting it to be very good or authentic, but as I savored the first bite of naan and mixed vegetable curry, nostalgia washed over me and I felt an ache for the wonderful country I'd left last week. The food was delicious, and I vowed once again to learn to cook Indian food well when I return.
We spent the rest of the day walking along the populated beach, enjoying the refreshing breeze that swept across the water. There was much preparation along the beach walk for the evening's celebration of the Hindu new year, and the whole crowd had an anticipatory excitement about it. Landon and I visited the memorial to the victims of the Kuta bombing at the Sari Club. Seeing their individual names and nationalities, etched into the stone, made the horror and sadness of the senseless act very real. The site was in the absolute center of the blocks of bars, nightclubs and major tourism strike. I had wondered why they chose to target a place so certainly occupied by foreign tourists, but it's clearly apparent why. They not only aimed to take innocent lives, but to destroy the spirit of joy that makes Bali such a desired place to visit for people from all nations and walks of life.
Landon I walked the streets of Kuta for several hours, taking in the frenzy of activity that was in preparation for the parade of ogoh-ogoh's to chase away the bad spirits and welcome in the good for the Balinese/Hindu New Year that began the next day. We had seen a lot of these fierce and fantastical ogoh-ogoh's being constructed throughout the week, and we now saw them in action. When carried on bamboo-rod platforms by groups of twenty young boys and men, these constructions of all faces, shapes and colors stood at least twenty feet high and were quite fearsome. We watched parades of many-headed demons, fierce warriors carrying swords that were ready to impale vicious monsters and also creatures that have no definition in terms of species or form. We sat on the edge of fountain in the main park of Tuban for some time by the pre-parade ogoh-ogoh staging area. We watched families gather together in the merriment of the day, greatly enjoying the Indonesian people celebrate such a lively and entertaining part of their culture. After getting some ice cream, it was time to head to the airport. Thankfully we made it there before all the roads were closed due to the parade and in preparation for the upcoming Nyepi Day, or the Day of Silence. The next day the entire island of Bali would be on complete lockdown. The people of Bali would spend the day in quiet reflection, not-speaking, fasting and not engaging in any sort of activity, really. I was sad to leave Bali, but glad that we wouldn't suffer the fate of the tourists left in Bali on Nyepi. They had to remain in their hotels and couldn't leave the grounds. Because the hotel staff was also observing the day of silence, there was only a skeleton crew to deliver limited food and service to the guests. When I talked to a Norweigan couple who had visited Bali seven times and twice during the Balinese New Year, they said that the hotels even turned off the pool pumps so people who wanted to swim had to do so in filthy water. It seems a little extreme, but Landon pointed out what a meaningful day it must be if you were Balinese and I had to agree in the beautiful simplicty of it all and the peace that spending a day in silence in the company of your loved ones would bring.
We arrived in Singapore around midnight, and went straight out to a nightclub to meet up with Julie and Cristine! As soon as we set eyes on each other we rushed forward and hugged each other in tight embrances. It was good to be back with my traveling crew, sadly minus Michael but happily plus one Landon Grace. The girls were out with Julie's college friend Elise, who had recently moved to Singapore for her husband's job along with their 14-month-old little girl. I could tell that living in a foreign city with a young child was difficult, but Elise was so sweet and charming and I told her I knew she'd find her niche in time. Their posting is for two years after which they'll likely return to Dallas. We ended the night at a bar in Clarke Quay, telling our stories from our week apart over overpriced beers. The girls had had such fun in Rajasthan, and I laughed at their stories of a camel they named "Zenk" due his unfortunate possession of a Zenker's diverticulum (or so they thought), their dancing with the locals at a traditional Rajasthani restaurant and their beautiful camel ride through the sand dunes in the Thar desert. We all lamented leaving India, going back over our beautiful time there, a trend that will continue even after we get back to the United States. They had quite the adventures in Bali as well, and I admired their bravery at renting a moped in Ubud! I was so happy to be back with them, knowing our foursome was going to have fabulous adventures together in the week ahead.
We dragged ourselves out of bed at 9 AM after only going to bed around 5:30 AM, and headed to catch our bus to Kuala Lumpur. Now, after our experiences on the lovely India buses, I wasn't expecting much out of the "luxury bus" that Landon had booked. Man was I pleasantly surprised! Our five-hour journey to Kuala Lumpur was in an air-conditioned and clean charter bus supplied with personal TV's, Wi-Fi, a delicious Malaysian meal and seats that reclined. Fantastic! I watched "Marley and Me" when I wasn't gazing out the window at the gorgeous scenary of the Malay Peninsula as we traveled north from Singapore. The geography was quite different than Singapore. As the blue of the water receeded from view, the landscape was overtaken by what I can best describe as a true jungle. Palm tree forests grew rampantly and wildly in every direction, and the hills rolled along with our rapidly moving bus. Arriving in Kuala Lumpur I was shocked by the sprawling, modern city, resplendant with green gardens, fountains and gleaming skyscrapers. Though it began to pour rain immeadiately upon disembarking the bus, we could still see much of the skyline and excitedly pointed out the imposing and majestic outline of the Petronas Towers whose twin figures we were famliar with from pop-culture (the movie "Entrapment", a highly entertaining flick with Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Watch it, you'll love it.) Landon arranged for us to stay at the Sahabat Guesthouse, a charming blue-painted villa near the city centre. It is clean and quaint, with white-washed walls, quirky art decorations and each room is named after a spice. Cristine and Julie are in Lemongrass, and Landon and I are in Lime. How lovely. Tonight we plan to experience some of the incredible Malaysian cuisine of Kuala Lumpur and then enjoy the nightlife of this thriving city. Tomorrow we go to the Batu Caves and its famous temples, and after a day of exploration head to the airport to catch our flight to Thailand.
Enjoying every moment, always thinking and missing my loved ones back home, and grateful for the ones here with me.
We spent the rest of the day walking along the populated beach, enjoying the refreshing breeze that swept across the water. There was much preparation along the beach walk for the evening's celebration of the Hindu new year, and the whole crowd had an anticipatory excitement about it. Landon and I visited the memorial to the victims of the Kuta bombing at the Sari Club. Seeing their individual names and nationalities, etched into the stone, made the horror and sadness of the senseless act very real. The site was in the absolute center of the blocks of bars, nightclubs and major tourism strike. I had wondered why they chose to target a place so certainly occupied by foreign tourists, but it's clearly apparent why. They not only aimed to take innocent lives, but to destroy the spirit of joy that makes Bali such a desired place to visit for people from all nations and walks of life.
Landon I walked the streets of Kuta for several hours, taking in the frenzy of activity that was in preparation for the parade of ogoh-ogoh's to chase away the bad spirits and welcome in the good for the Balinese/Hindu New Year that began the next day. We had seen a lot of these fierce and fantastical ogoh-ogoh's being constructed throughout the week, and we now saw them in action. When carried on bamboo-rod platforms by groups of twenty young boys and men, these constructions of all faces, shapes and colors stood at least twenty feet high and were quite fearsome. We watched parades of many-headed demons, fierce warriors carrying swords that were ready to impale vicious monsters and also creatures that have no definition in terms of species or form. We sat on the edge of fountain in the main park of Tuban for some time by the pre-parade ogoh-ogoh staging area. We watched families gather together in the merriment of the day, greatly enjoying the Indonesian people celebrate such a lively and entertaining part of their culture. After getting some ice cream, it was time to head to the airport. Thankfully we made it there before all the roads were closed due to the parade and in preparation for the upcoming Nyepi Day, or the Day of Silence. The next day the entire island of Bali would be on complete lockdown. The people of Bali would spend the day in quiet reflection, not-speaking, fasting and not engaging in any sort of activity, really. I was sad to leave Bali, but glad that we wouldn't suffer the fate of the tourists left in Bali on Nyepi. They had to remain in their hotels and couldn't leave the grounds. Because the hotel staff was also observing the day of silence, there was only a skeleton crew to deliver limited food and service to the guests. When I talked to a Norweigan couple who had visited Bali seven times and twice during the Balinese New Year, they said that the hotels even turned off the pool pumps so people who wanted to swim had to do so in filthy water. It seems a little extreme, but Landon pointed out what a meaningful day it must be if you were Balinese and I had to agree in the beautiful simplicty of it all and the peace that spending a day in silence in the company of your loved ones would bring.
We arrived in Singapore around midnight, and went straight out to a nightclub to meet up with Julie and Cristine! As soon as we set eyes on each other we rushed forward and hugged each other in tight embrances. It was good to be back with my traveling crew, sadly minus Michael but happily plus one Landon Grace. The girls were out with Julie's college friend Elise, who had recently moved to Singapore for her husband's job along with their 14-month-old little girl. I could tell that living in a foreign city with a young child was difficult, but Elise was so sweet and charming and I told her I knew she'd find her niche in time. Their posting is for two years after which they'll likely return to Dallas. We ended the night at a bar in Clarke Quay, telling our stories from our week apart over overpriced beers. The girls had had such fun in Rajasthan, and I laughed at their stories of a camel they named "Zenk" due his unfortunate possession of a Zenker's diverticulum (or so they thought), their dancing with the locals at a traditional Rajasthani restaurant and their beautiful camel ride through the sand dunes in the Thar desert. We all lamented leaving India, going back over our beautiful time there, a trend that will continue even after we get back to the United States. They had quite the adventures in Bali as well, and I admired their bravery at renting a moped in Ubud! I was so happy to be back with them, knowing our foursome was going to have fabulous adventures together in the week ahead.
We dragged ourselves out of bed at 9 AM after only going to bed around 5:30 AM, and headed to catch our bus to Kuala Lumpur. Now, after our experiences on the lovely India buses, I wasn't expecting much out of the "luxury bus" that Landon had booked. Man was I pleasantly surprised! Our five-hour journey to Kuala Lumpur was in an air-conditioned and clean charter bus supplied with personal TV's, Wi-Fi, a delicious Malaysian meal and seats that reclined. Fantastic! I watched "Marley and Me" when I wasn't gazing out the window at the gorgeous scenary of the Malay Peninsula as we traveled north from Singapore. The geography was quite different than Singapore. As the blue of the water receeded from view, the landscape was overtaken by what I can best describe as a true jungle. Palm tree forests grew rampantly and wildly in every direction, and the hills rolled along with our rapidly moving bus. Arriving in Kuala Lumpur I was shocked by the sprawling, modern city, resplendant with green gardens, fountains and gleaming skyscrapers. Though it began to pour rain immeadiately upon disembarking the bus, we could still see much of the skyline and excitedly pointed out the imposing and majestic outline of the Petronas Towers whose twin figures we were famliar with from pop-culture (the movie "Entrapment", a highly entertaining flick with Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Watch it, you'll love it.) Landon arranged for us to stay at the Sahabat Guesthouse, a charming blue-painted villa near the city centre. It is clean and quaint, with white-washed walls, quirky art decorations and each room is named after a spice. Cristine and Julie are in Lemongrass, and Landon and I are in Lime. How lovely. Tonight we plan to experience some of the incredible Malaysian cuisine of Kuala Lumpur and then enjoy the nightlife of this thriving city. Tomorrow we go to the Batu Caves and its famous temples, and after a day of exploration head to the airport to catch our flight to Thailand.
Enjoying every moment, always thinking and missing my loved ones back home, and grateful for the ones here with me.
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