Bali / Indonesia

16/10/17 - 22/10/17

First stop: Changgu/Kuta (3 days)

Arriving in Bali felt like stepping into a whole new world. Apart from the obvious price differences compared to Australia, it is a completely different culture, different people, different landscapes, different food... but still just as interesting and incredible!

On the first day, Markus went to the barber for the first time in 2 months and got a haircut for only €1.25 - definitely the cheapest haircut he's ever had 😀 After the barber, a staff member who spent the next two days with us took us to a Balinese 'restaurant' where the moms and grandmas still passionately cook. He ordered a huge plate full of their specialties. It was a delicious meal (unfortunately, I have no idea what exactly we ate, otherwise I could at least tell you about it - no idea 😀). We invited Ary to join us and we paid 4 euros for three meals with drinks... It's unimaginable.
After lunch, Ary took us to a watersports shop where Markus had the chance to ride a jetski for the first time and zoom across the water for half an hour! From there, we visited a huge temple complex with oversized statues dedicated to Hinduism. When we got out of the car, we noticed a funny incident. Markus was standing in the parking lot looking frustrated - he was barefoot 😂 Oops, we must have left his shoes behind after jetskiing. Oh well, at least he got some good calluses, considering we were going to walk a lot that day and he had to do it all barefoot 😀
Upon entering the temple, we had to wrap scarves around our waists out of respect for the religion and its gods. We were truly overwhelmed by the size and impact of the huge statues! We felt a certain sense of awe. We were asked to sit in the prayer pose in front of the Hindu statue for a photo. We made everyone around us laugh because Markus had a hard time sitting cross-legged and it must have looked very funny, as we later saw in the photos 😀 But why does a man need to be able to sit like that - it's not a big deal! We then took a short break at a beach where we enjoyed fresh coconut water. Finally, Ary took us to another temple complex to watch the sunset. The path - again all barefoot for Markus - was about 1 km along a stone path by the sea and past giant rocks, all while encountering hundreds of monkeys trained by locals to steal sunglasses, phones, and cameras from tourists. These tourists were then forced to buy expensive food to offer as a 'trade' to the monkeys or the valuables were taken directly to the trainers, who would either keep them or sell them. Luckily, we were already warned and had Ary with us, who knew how to handle the animals and protected us. However, we witnessed at least 20 cases where people around us had their belongings stolen. The speed at which the monkey snatched the sunglasses and then climbed a tree, making it impossible for anyone to reach them, was astonishing. After the beautiful sunset over the sea, we headed back home.

The next day, Ary had planned another full program for us. After a 2-hour drive to the north of Bali, we reached the Twin Waterfalls. Since they are located in the mountains, it is usual for it to rain a little here. However, on this day, it wasn't just a little rain, it was pouring! We didn't think much of it because we assumed the waterfalls weren't far away on foot. As soon as we entered, we wondered why a guide wanted to accompany us for a lot of money to show us the waterfalls. Why would we need a guide? We just wanted to see them and go back... After about 10 minutes of walking - by now we were so wet that our hair and clothes were dripping - we quickly understood why a guide wanted to join us 😀 The paths were like a labyrinth, going left, right, up, down - we had NO IDEA where we were. There were no other people around, we were in the middle of the jungle, completely soaked, no signs, no sense of direction 😀 As a result, we got lost thousands of times, had to turn back over and over again, we got wetter and wetter but at the same time, it was so humid that we couldn't tell if it was sweat dripping down or rainwater. We reached the point several times where we were on the verge of giving up and didn't believe we would ever find those stupid waterfalls. But eventually, after about 40 minutes, as the rain finally stopped (was that a gift because we finally made it?), we suddenly stood in front of the waterfalls and all the horror of our hike, which we started laughing about, was worth it! The waterfalls were truly stunning 😊 On the way back, we got lost a few more times, but after a total of 1.5 hours, we were back at the car park 😀

The second stop was another temple in the water, which was also beautiful as expected! Back at the villa, Ary's wife invited us to her home for dinner. When we arrived, we were amazed... We got a glimpse behind the scenes of a simple life. Their 'apartment' consisted of one room with a mattress on the floor. Everything was old, run-down, dirty... We sat outside on a carpet on the floor for dinner. It made us appreciate how good we have it back home and all the things we have. Despite their living conditions and the little money the people here have, they are so warm and loving! We had tuna soup and baked tuna with rice. Simple food, but it was so delicious!!! Because Ary's wife prepared it with so much love for us.

On the last day, we had a relaxing day before heading to Ubud.

In Ubud, we treated ourselves to a luxury bungalow for very little money 😀 The resort was situated right in the middle of the jungle - pure tranquility. We rented a scooter for the days here. The traffic here is insane! Everyone drives as they please, traffic lights are just decoration, and people honk all the time in the area 😂 Luckily, Markus was driving and quickly found his way and managed the chaos really well. The motto was to honk as much as possible to always make sure you're noticed and not overlooked 😀
We were only a 5-minute scooter ride away from the beautiful, famous rice terraces. We also visited the traditional Balinese market, explored the city, and chilled.
One of our highlights here was a Balinese full-body massage, which was simply incredible (€4!!! 😀). We were welcomed with a drink and then got to choose the oil for our massage. The massage lasted for an hour. Pure relaxation! Wow!
The other highlight was the Monkey Forest!
Here, 780 monkeys live in a huge jungle area. Again, we had to be careful with our belongings. Not because of trained monkeys, but because they are interested in food or simply looking for new toys 😀 The area was full of monkeys jumping around and playing. It was soooo cool!!!!!