Whitewater Rafting and Facials at the Spa

Continued from yesterday”¦ The rapids were just the right size. They were big enough to make it a fun ride, but not so big that we ever worried about falling out or capsizing. We often twisted and turned and were splashed by waves of water coming over the raft. Occasionally, we’d crash into a rock and just bounce off and keep going. Sometimes we would get stuck on top of a rock, but with a little pushing of the paddle, we’d slide right off. Christi marveled at how well the little raft bounced and slid on the rocks, and how easily it rode over the walls of small waves that would sometimes come at us. Much more flexible and forgiving than a kayak.

About halfway through, we stopped for a rest on some rocks next to one of the biggest water falls. There were four ladies there selling cold beverages. Every day these ladies walk down an equally huge staircase at their village, walk three miles inside the rock laden river with coolers full of ice and drinks. Then at the end of the day, they walk the three miles back up the river against the rapid current with their coolers and remaining inventory, then back up that gnarly set of stairs. Wow. We think they win over the guy who climbs the crater lakes mountain every day to sell coffee and blankets.

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The ride was Continue reading

Whitewater Rafting Trip in Ubud

We started the day with round two of fueling. We had been warned that fuel in Bali is dirty, so we filtered all the fuel with an external filter as it was pumped. We are pleased to report that the fuel did not have any debris or water in it at all. We are still going to polish it before we take off, to be safe. Kosmos is now level, which is nice.

After fueling, we went white water rafting. Eric went once many years ago and had a lot of fun. Christi once went on a week long white water kayaking trip, which was a disastrous experience where 90% of the time she was taking the rapids upside down. She does not look back on that trip with fond memories. Christi had been told taking the rapids in a raft was more fun than a kayak, so she was willing to give it a go. We figured that since it had been raining so much the last few days (we only mentioned the rain on days where it affected our plans, but it has rained at least a little every day that we have been in Bali), the river would be full and the rapids good. And we figured the water would be pretty warm, too, which is an important factor for Christi.

The company we chose is called Sobek and is just outside of Ubud. Much to our surprise, Continue reading

More Sightseeing in Bali

Continued from yesterday”¦ We made our rounds around temple Tirta Empul, looking at all the structures, and then headed back to the car. We managed to sneak out the entrance so we could avoid the row of hawkers awaiting us at the exit. As soon as we were out of the temple complex, the pushy banana salesman was back, and despite having told her no at least 50 times, she managed to beat us into submission and we bought some bananas.

The next stop was a town called Bangli. We ate in a restaurant called Batur Sari that offers a nice view of active volcano Batur. While the setting was nice, the food was only mediocre and extremely over priced. Christi’s main course was $8.50, the same price as her gourmet meal in the fancy restaurant Kuta. The volcano never rumbled or spit up any lava or smoke that we could see, so we didn’t even get a show with our meal. We were also attacked by touts as we left, who literally surrounded us, all of them shoving their wares in our faces and demanding we buy their goods. We had a hard time getting through them to the safety of the car. That is our worst hawker experience to date.

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We made a quick stop at Continue reading

Touring Central Bali

Wayan picked us up at 0730 to continue our tour. We took a different route up to the mountains this time, but the scenery along the way was almost identical, with the narrow roads, neighborhoods of stores all selling the same product, and the Balinese style buildings with an occasional plot of land or forest peeking through.

Our first stop was at a wood carving shop called Manis The display area is enormous and the pieces are some of the most beautiful we have ever seen in our lives. We are talking award winning artistry here, the kind of work you pay hundreds of thousands for at home and brag about owning at cocktail parties. No exaggeration. It seriously looked more like an art museum than a shop. They offered goods ranging from small curio cabinet carvings, to statues and wall hangings, to furniture sets with matching couches, chairs, bar stools, tables and coffee tables. In the middle of the first floor display area there was a small team of people working away. You actually watched as a plain piece of wood took on a beautiful shape and marveled that the artist could see such a vision in a plain old piece of wood. There were people sanding and staining in addition to chiseling. The prices are outrageous by Indonesian standards, but a bargain by American standards.

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While we looked around, we were followed by one of the staff who talked incessantly about each piece that we glanced at. At one point we Continue reading