For the past few days or so, we've been on the move. The last report for the Indo Experience's Bali Adventure was given from the rain forests of Ubud. Now, it's catch up time. This is going to be one of two posts that'll bring you up to speed.
Welcome to the artists' world... Ubud.
The last couple days in Ubud were filled with excitement, fear and drinking poop! Yes, poop! The girls took a bike tour where they visited rice farms, village homes and a coffee farm. At the coffee farm, they drank the very expensive Kopi Luwak. The Asian Palm Civet (looks like a mix between a ferret and cat) eats the coffee berries and shits out fermented coffee beans. The beans are cleaned, roasted and served as expensive coffee. Yeah, crazy.
Gina enjoying Balinese Kopi Luwak.
Then it was off to the rafting adventure down the Payan River. That's always fun. And this particular tour takes us down the river where artists have carved the Rama story into the walls. Needless to say, it's a sight to see. Luckily, no one fell out of the raft but there were a couple times when I thought we were going to flip... but I didn't say anything to the girls.
The story is told on the wall. Gina.
Gina, Mailei and Steph pose for a photo as the raft loaded with Aussies sets sail for the other half of the ride.
This was our rafting crew dubbed, The Cougars. The couple in the back were from New Zealand... Ama and Paul.
Waterfalls galore.
Stephanie getting the shot.
Finally, we hit up the infamous Ubud Monkey Forest. The girls bought a bunch of bananas at the entrance and within minutes they were surrounded by monkeys wanting some of the treats! If you hold on to the banana too long, the monkeys will get a little ticked off. In Gina's case, the little guy actually nipped her in the elbow in retaliation of Gina's banana feeding delay.
Attack of the hungry monkeys!
It wasn't me!
River flowing through the Monkey Forest.
Later, it was Stephanie that suffered the wrath of a mother monkey. While in the temple area, where the monkeys chill and groom each other, two little monkeys decided to jump on my should and began grooming me. Gina got in on the action. The when the two little rascals jumped on Stephanie, mother monkey said enough is enough. Mama monkey jumped on Stephanie and began to eat Steph's head off! Okay, not really but it sure did look like it. After a really obvious warning and a small nip on Steph's scalp, we decided to walk away and let the family be. Both Gina and Stephanie will be okay but may be traumatized and may not watch the next King Kong flick!
Gina getting groomed whether she likes it or not!
At least my ears got cleaned!
Stephanie, happy and about 20 minutes before a different monkey eats her head off!
Happy moments before the attack on Stephanie.
Next update will be about our stay in the laid back island of Nusa Lembongan. Snorkeling, Manta Rays and more. Stay tuned!
Today, the girls were on their own. I took today to catch up on emails and finish up a video I'm editing for Dog Beach Dog Wash. Take a look at the photos and listen in on what the girls did this day:
CLICK HERE to hear the girl's version of what happen. (mp3 audio file)
Do you have the skills to barter with this woman in the Ubud open market?
The smells and colors like no other. Ubud open market.
Gina enjoying every second at the Zen Spa.
Yoga Barn policy.
I love my wife. She's a barter master.
Pedicures all around. Mailei and Gina enjoy.
Yoga Barn setting. Not too shabby.
Gina with the infamous Ketut from the book Eat Pray Love.
Stephanie deciding what to pick up for her friends back home.
Getting pitted at Padang, eating vegan food, stretching on Padang Padang beach, Bintangs at Jimmy's Brother and SUPing on Jimbaran Bay... not a bad start for the Indo Experience G1 tour. But that was only the first few days. With the SUP boards still in our possession and time on our hands before we head off to the rain forests of Ubud, we decided to hit up Jimbaran Bay at dawn in hopes of some glassiness for some more SUPing.
We couldn't have asked for a better morning to SUP in Bali.
The girls were up and ready at 6am and within 25 minutes we were unloading our SUP boards at the same beach from yesterday's SUP Session. But this time, it was sheet glass and not a sole in sight! Awesome! We decided to head towards the west side of the bay and check out the fisherman unloading their overnight catch. I would guestimate about a mile and a half one way. We all won't agree on the distance but I'm saying AT LEAST a mile and a half.
Sunny and great colors were offered up on Jimbaran Bay.
At the mile and a half mark ;), we reached the fisherman waiting to head towards the beach. Okay, now think about it for a second. You're an Indo fisherman who's been out all night fishing and your waiting to get called into shore to unload the catch when all of a sudden you see three girls in bikinis paddle up. This was 7am! Yeah... the girls stirred up a few waves at the fishing village in Jimbaran this morning.
From a photographer's point of view, the colors were awesome. The golden light was unreal. From the fisherman's point of view, the colors of bikinis were also awesome. So after a few photo/video sessions around, not aroused, the boats, we headed back. It was a great workout for me since I was the only one on a sub 9 foot SUP board.
Mailei and Stephanie wanted more exercise and headed out for a swim. Yeah, crazy.
Mailei and Steph getting their swim in right after the 3 mile SUP paddle session. Psychooo...
Back to the hotel but not until we stop and get some photos of this giant statue that's on the way to LBS Surf House. Everyone just finds insanely massive. Probably because it is.
Gina and Stephanie.
Mailei and I's pose can't compare to Gina and Steph's above.
Breakfast. Packed. Now, off to Ubud. We check into Artini 2 hotel and I have to admit, walking into the reception area is always breath taking. Actually, Ubud is pretty awesome if you know where to look.
What you see when you reach the reception area at Artini 2 in Ubud. photo: Stephanie.
We're checked in and right off the bat we book our seats at the traditional Kecak Fire Dance. This is a definite must for anyone visiting Bali. The show was awesome except for the fact that this little kid two seats down was mimicking everything the lead actor was doing. Annoying. Other than that, it was a very cool sight to see.
Kecak show. photo: Stephanie.
After the show, we head down the street to my favorite restaurant in Ubud, KAFE. With nachos on the menu, you know this Mexican will be fine with everything else. Eat. Hit a wall. Sleep.
We started off this day down on Padang Padang beach with a stretching exercise session with Escogue Instructor Mailei. If you have back issues, this is routine you need to follow! After an hour of bending, sweating and a walk down the beach, we were ready for a full day of Bali.
Padang Padang beach lifeguard tower.
You can't tell from this photo but the girls are inside of a giant cave.
I have to admit, I was a little nervous about having a vegan on the Bali Adventure trip. Just the fact that I didn't know where to find vegan restaurants or what kinda of foods would be considered vegan was making me short circuit as a tour guide. But believe it or not, there hasn't been an issue at all. In fact, vegetarian meals were plentiful and get this... we found an all vegan restaurant on Sunset Road near Kuta. Our friend was excited!
Gina is a happy camper.
I grew up enjoying and eating every single type of meat on the planet. So having lunch at an all vegan joint was something new for me. Needless to say and just by looking at the photos, this place was awesome! The food was delicious and our table was awesome. It was open air gazebo sitting a grassy field with a fountain making comforting sounds. You could see the rice farmer and cows through the white coated fence. The Deity of Miracle restaurant is a must. Two thumbs up.
Yes, we macked out at Miracles.
Sweet and sour mushroom.
With the SUP on the car and food in our bellies, we headed to Jimbaran Bay. After another 20 minutes of the Bali mayhem traffic we reached Jimbaran. The winds were a little on the high side but we still went for it. We got out pretty far pretty quick. Paddling into the winds on the way back took twice as long. After the work out against the wind, we chilled out on the beach. The girls got tan and I took out the different boards and caught a few tiny waves.
The owner of this shop is going to kill it. As of today, he's the only one doing SUP on Bali. Yes, SUP is now included on our Bali Adventure trips.
Windy but still fun. We have the boards for 24 hours. We're going to get on it early tomorrow for the glassy sesh.
Tan, tired and hungry we loaded up the boards and headed for Ulu Thai food near Bingin on the bukit. Yum. This place serves their curries in coconut shells. Pretty cool. The food was awesome but having our waiter hovering over us waiting to take our order as soon as we sat down was a bit weird. But it was all good.
Back the hotel. Mailei and I crashed but the girls had other things to deal with. Before they could catch up on some z's, they had to kick out two intruders out of their room. Not people but two massive cane spiders. They need to work on their terminating skills 'cause both spiders outsmarted (is that a word?) the girls and escaped into the shadows of the room. Tonight the girls slept with spiders (gulp).
