Bali

And here we are again – at the amazing island – BALI.

Together with Micha’s parents we took a cab to Sanur and got quick to our beautiful cottage. The garden opened our minds for Bali itself.

We went to Kuta/Legian searching for a car rental. For surviving that you need to shut your ears, cause everybody wants to give you massage, transport or invites you for ‘just looking, madam” and offers you marihuana, to name just some standard approachings all along the street. I tell you, it’s a long street!

We guess that the first word a baby speaks is transport (for the male) and massage (for the female).

After a long bargain we cut the price short. The car rental started at 30 Euros a day, we spend 13 Euros later on. Without a charge for driven miles. This is Bali, you just have to bargain, bargain and bargain…

Now imaging this picture: 4 Germans for the first time on the roads of Bali, with an almost brandnew Toyota. The map did not fit with reality of the streets, town names did not matter, so we never really knew where we were. Mad motorcycle drivers circled all around the car and cars just crossed the road as they want to, they just crossed our way. You brake, you lose! So be it, Micha copied the Balinese style in perfection and did not care about his mom and her screaming. After a while she got used to it, more or less. Let’s just say, she earn some years during this vacation. We had to speed and cross the way of cars and mofas. Red lights? Give the horn and it will turn green, if not, pass it, when it’s still red.

It was big fun, even if the adrenalin was all the time on a high level. Micha gained a lot off grey hair, but he managed to drive 1000 miles without a single thing happening to the car.

First we watched the templ;e of Uluwatu, which is at the top off a cliff. You had to watch out for the cheaky monkeys, the stole what ever they could get, hats, glasses and cameras…

After that we made a break at opne off the small beaches where we watched surfers while enjoying a freshmade orange juice. It’s faszinating to see people are one with the water and the surf.

We stopped at temples like Tanah Lot, we could watch a anniversary ceremony there, Mengwi and Danau Bratan which lays at a  volcano lake. We made our way to Ubud, a town where artists and handycrafts show what the can do with woods and other materials. If you look for that kind of stuff you are right here. For Rita and Deiter we bargained and got two nice masks. Such a day can be pretty tough, cause Ubud is quite touristic. So about 1000 times “madam, just look, cheap, cheap price, just for you” later we relaxed in a small quite restaurant at the edge off some rice fields.

For the refreshment on this trip we watched to Gitgit waterfalls, quite hgh, a little rainy and cooler than anything else. Micha and Nadine almost froze, cause they are used to this climate but his parents had to fight a little.

Actually we just spend one day at the beach. The waves were quite high, let’s say, high enough to kick Nadine and Michas asses. The current and the big amount off water did not make it easy to have real fun. We found black sand everywhere, when we took a shower… There you can see, why Bali is such a paradise for surfers.

In an old small town we could find the real ancient Bali. There they still live there own culture. They have their own government and calendar (mid 1943). Marriage just with the people off the town, otherwise you have to leave the town. Most people are working in agriculture but 30% are employed in the next city.

The art off „double-ikat“ is still alive there. It’s a special technique to make beautiful scarf and sarongs. This town has just 640 people living there but 83 kids. Twice a year they perform a ritual where men fight with KAKTEEN till they bleed.

Two weeks ended very fast and  back we were in Kuala Lumpur.

Accommodation: Sativa Sanur Cottage, Jl. Danau Tamblingan, Sanur, http://sativahotels.com/sanur/en/

Price: Euro 35 per Cottage with double bed, Whirlpool bathtub, incl. breakfast

Comment: fantastic breakfast buffet, beautifully arranged garden and great pool