Bali - the first couple of days

WOW.  I thought Spain was culture shock.  This place is something else.  It took us about 19 hours to get here - we flew from Malaga to Barcelona, stayed overnight there and then the next morning flew to Zurich, transferred to Thai Airways (VERY nice airline to fly), flew to Bangkok, and transferred there to fly to Denpasar in Bali.  The transfers added a bit of time, but it was nice to get out and move around a bit.

I think this is a Gaudi design chair at the hotel in Barcelona

Thai Airways staff dress beautifully.

Leaving Zurich for Thailand

Appetizer on Thai Air

Dinner - yum!

Pretty dessert.  

We were picked up at the Denpasar airport by a very nice man named Wayan Naja, who drove us to our rented villa in the little town of Lodtunduh, just outside the larger town of Ubud.  By the time we got here, we didn’t know if we were tired or wide awake!  So we waited until a reasonable time to go to bed, just to get ourselves on Bali time, and by 8 pm we were sawing logs.  8 pm is perfectly reasonable in my books.

Towels in the bathroom

Pretty orchid in the courtyard.  There's a little fishpond you
can see just behind it.

Outdoor shower beside the pool.  Doors go into the bedroom.

View from the outdoor shower area that's attached to the
downstairs bathroom/bedroom.  

Downstairs bedroom - very pretty

Our home for the next month is perfect!  We are in a set of 6 villas which are all quite new, and each has it’s own little swimming pool.  The first three days, local women came in to make our breakfast (part of the deal here), and by that time we had made our way to a grocery store with Wayan’s help and found our own food.  It’s nice having someone come to cook for us, but arranging the time you’re going to be awake when still on Spanish time is a bit tricky!  We worked it out.

Morning fruit plate - yum!  You have to eat quickly though - the flies are relentless.

I'm having pancakes and Glen's having an omelette.  First morning in Bali.

The first day here, we walked into Ubud via the road.  There is a line down the middle of the road.  Sometimes.  However, it’s mostly ignored.  The roads are narrow, windy, poorly paved and FULL of cars, trucks, scooters, scooters, scooters, scooters, scooters and bicycles.  There is sometimes a shoulder to walk on, but mostly not.  And where there’s a shoulder, there’s a LOT of garbage.  Very sad.

No lights.  No stop signs.  Pack two or three people on a scooter, babies included.
Weave your way in and out.  If you're a pedestrian, just move into the general
chaos - they seem to move around you.  It's horrible!

Stream bed at the side of the road.  Full of garbage.  So disappointing to see this.

It took us about 20 minutes of breathing in auto & scooter fumes to get to Ubud, and we were offered many taxi rides, many pieces of fabric, many dresses, shirts, hats, handicrafts and meals once we arrived in town.  Mostly we refused - we were just trying to take it all in.  We DID finally find a backgammon board though - we’ve been searching for one since we arrived in England back in June.  This is locally hand-carved, so it was a treat to find.  We’re back to our afternoon tournaments!

I win one, He wins one.  I win one, He wins one.  Pretty new board.
Much better than playing on the iPad!

We have decided to take advantage of the local neighbours who offer cooking services, and have had home-cooked dinners delivered to our villa the past three nights.  The price is ridiculously reasonable, and the food is a taste explosion with every bite.  This dinner cost us the equivalent of about $10.50

This dinner was delivered to our door - and then arranged beautifully on the plates for us.  

A cleaning crew of about 8 local youths comes in every morning to make the place sparkle.  There seem to be a lot of ants and flies here, and they tend to litter the white tile floors in a 24 hour period.  

We have two outdoor showers - one by the pool, and one that the downstairs bathroom opens into.  It’s a bit disconcerting, but we’re getting used to it!

Bathroom with an outdoor shower 

The rice paddies are a 5 minute walk away from here - Wayan came over on our second afternoon and took us on a walking tour, and showed us a path to Ubud.

Love this little scarecrow in the rice field

Rice growing - close up!  Very pretty plant.

The night sounds here are beautiful - crickets, frogs, birds and roosters, completely un-identifiable sounds, and the odd dog barking thrown in for good measure.  I love to fall asleep to the sounds of nature.  The roosters tend to start up again about 3 am but we’ve pretty much slept through it - they aren’t annoying, just a nice background.

Glen is calling this Anne's bathtub.  That's a fairly accurate description.
I even have him going in every day, and that's pretty amazing.

Sunset from the upper bedroom deck

So, little roads, crazy driving, so many vehicles, broken sidewalks, garbage in the drainage canals - not a great place for walking.  The noise of town is a bit exhausting, but it’s fun to walk around.  I’m not sure I like it here yet.  The weather is fantastic - I like it hot.  And I like our villa and our pool.  So let’s see what the next weeks bring.