The Journey Before You

If you were to Google the word Bali and click on images you would see over-the-water huts on beautiful crystal clear beaches. Well, turns out these pictures are not, I repeat ARE NOT of Bali. In fact, it is against the law to build anything here out over the water. Some hotels have compensated by literally building small swimming pools around hotel rooms. I googled these images while here trying in vain to find where they are in Bali, but they just don’t exist here. If that is what you’re looking for, you probably should plan your trip for the Maldives or French Polynesian islands like Tahiti or Bora Bora, but definitely not Bali. People insist there are gorgeous beaches here as well, and there are lots of images online that imply the same. Unfortunately we did not see them, but that is not to say they don’t exist somewhere.

We have been here for 10 days and have had some time to reflect on what we have experienced here. I must preface this by saying that I have been VERY ill for at least half the time we were here so my views may be somewhat negatively biased because of that. Also, we came during the rainy season and 6 of the 10 days here it poured all day. We did not see the entire island or any other part of Indonesia so there may be amazing parts out there.

Anyway, so we landed Friday afternoon January 27th excited to be in a new country on our journey. We had arranged for our hotel to pick us up at the airport thankfully and it was cool to have someone waiting with our name on a card once we landed. I think that was a first for me. We arrived at our hotel which was super nice for the price. We paid around $30/night and it would have easily cost over $100/nt in the States. We walked to a nearby Bali restaurant which had excellent reviews, and enjoyed a nice dinner since we’d been camping and cooking for 2 solid weeks prior. The food was great and there were musicians and a lady performing traditional dance. We were happy and off to a great start.

The next morning we just lazed around and walked over to the beach for a little while. We weren’t originally going to rent a car, but we thought we’d explore the island and Dave found a great deal. They brought the car to us which was awesome. I honestly think we could have bought it for what we paid to rent it, but we’re not picky so we went with it.

We decided to drive up to a popular place called Ubud which has a temple area/monkey garden. We google mapped it and it said 44kms distance and would take 1 hour and 20 minutes to drive. We thought, ‘great, no problem’. We began the terrifying adventure of driving here. Imagine 4.2 MILLION people inhabiting a 1500 square mile island. I might add that Dave and I generally split up the driving, but I didn’t drive once the whole stay if that tells you anything.  It took us more than 3 HOURS one way to get there. In Australia it would have taken around 30 minutes to drive the same distance!!!  

So, yeah, it was cool to see the monkeys, but not 3-hours-one-way in stop and go traffic cool. Another thing we could not help but notice was the trash littering the streets and the waterways. I don’t mean a few scraps here and there, I mean trash EVERYWHERE. Another thing lining the streets was shops one after the other crammed full with concrete or stone carved idols and altars. I’m not sure who is buying them because they had been sitting there for a long time. You can probably picture how stone or concrete looks after years of elements have worn them down. Somebody must be though because there are a lot of people in business making them.

While we were at the monkey place it seemed like a somewhat nice oasis  where everything was lush and green with walking paths and bridges over waterways…except that the water was filthy and, again, full of trash. After half an hour or so of walking through it we made our way back to the car and the dreaded drive back. After this day I was wondering if we should have even bothered with renting the car. :/

We were thrilled to not have to do any camp cooking since the food here is so inexpensive and delicious. Dave is now hooked on chicken satay and orders it everywhere! He even took pictures of a recipe so we can make it at home. Haha! Love him. We ate at a yummy place again and just chilled for the night.

Sunday morning we headed to the nearest (and possibly only) Christian protestant church which happened to be thankfully only about 15 minutes away. We were very encouraged to see literally hundreds of locals leaving the early service when we arrived. The English service we attended was great, but not many people. They played old hymns I grew up with which made me cry most of the time because it brought back instant memories of my grandmother singing them in the kitchen. The one that really got me was “What a friend we have in Jesus.” The message was on Micah 6:8 and challenged us to be just, kind and merciful. Beautiful open air church building. It started pouring rain during the service and seemed so refreshing.

The interesting thing is that the church was literally side by side with other places of worship. One on side was a gold covered buddhist temple that nobody was allowed to enter, then a Catholic church, then a mosque and I think one other building- perhaps a Hindu temple?

After church we decided to get a massage. Initially I was so excited that you can get a massage for less than a quarter of the price it would cost back home, but I also felt conflicted and somehow guilty about what seemed to me an injustice. I felt the same about the cost of food and lodging. Also, most of the locals are over the top genuinely nice. It kind of made me uncomfortable, like we were put on some kind of unnecessary pedestal. They would bend over backwards to cater to any need or to not risk any offence.

It was just overcast the rest of the day so we decided to go to what was supposed to be one of the nicest beaches in Bali, Nusa Dua, to snorkel and hangout. The beach was okay. Lots of people. We snorkeled, but there wasn’t really much to see and the current was strong. We swam back in and stayed on the beach for half an hour or so before heading back to our place. To be one of the nicest beaches in Bali we were not impressed. We thought maybe it would be prettier if the sun was out, but not sure. It was nice that the temperature was comfortably warm in and out of the water.

The next day we went out on a charter fishing trip that Dave arranged. An Australian couple went too. I will start with the positive. Dave caught a giant fish which was super awesome! I wish I could leave it at that, but I must share the rest. First they were an hour late picking us up in the morning. They called to say they were running 10 or so minutes late, but it was way later. I got seasick within the first hour of being on the boat despite taking medicine well before the trip. This should have been the first clue to me that I was about to get really sick since I’ve never before thrown up riding on a boat. I spent the remainder of the fishing trip lying down and sort of sleeping except to get up when Dave caught his fish. Prior to the excursion they never would confirm whether they provided lunch, but kept reassuring us they would have plenty of beer which we didn’t care about. So we packed lunch and they also provided. I couldn’t eat any of it.

The 2 man crew were very nice, however they did not seem well prepared. They forgot to bring ice for the catch. The hooks were rusted and some straight. They did not know how to tie a basic fishing knot. They ran out of bait halfway through. They ended up trading some of ‘our’ beer for more bait when they saw a local fisherman nearby. Good thing we weren’t planning to drink it lol.  When we got back to land they did not clean the fish though they said they would, and there was very poor communication about who was doing what. They seemed more concerned about rinsing off the fishing equipment than getting ice for the fish. They didn’t have any knives to clean the fish. Oh, and one of the engines on the boat was broken which they proceeded to work on throughout the trip. On the way back to land we rode alongside probably a mile or so of a steady stream of debris/trash floating out to sea from the island. The irony was the large sticker in the boat which read “Keep Bali oceans clean!” I forgot also that they told the other couple they could just throw their cigarette butts in the ocean. They didn’t thankfully. We later read that our experience was pretty much the standard for Bali. 

When we were dropped back at the hotel, Dave proceeded to clean the fish on the hood of the beater rental car. Onlookers seemed quite impressed, or maybe shocked? Ha, who knows?  I was still not feeling the best so we just stayed in the rest of the evening.

We decided we would try to explore the island the next day even if it was going to rain, which it did- a lot! We drove to one of the ‘lakes’ up in the mountains halfway across the island thinking perhaps we might get away from the crowds and see something different or even peaceful. We were wrong.  On the way as the monsoon hit, the streets were quickly flooded with murky dark water and plenty of trash floating along with it. The thought of all of this running into the surrounding ocean made us wary of swimming in it anymore. The entire drive took about 4 hours one way, with crowds of people along the route including thousands on scooters weaving in and out of the bumper to bumper traffic. Oh yeah, we also found out the brakes on the car worked intermittently. At one point closer to the top of the mountain and when the rain broke we did see somewhat pretty vistas of rice terraces behind buildings. I brought my camera but forgot the sd card so didn’t get any photos though. On the way I felt certain I was getting sick and coming down with a fever which made the ride that much more miserable. I had no idea what I was in for 🙁  Once we arrived and there was clearly nothing to see despite how the tourist magazine had played it up, we ate a quick lunch and made the long drive back to our place. My fever got even worse and by the next morning I thought I was dying.

I won’t go into details, but suffice it to say I was bedridden for the next 4 days and easily lost about 5-10 pounds in that time. Dave was wonderful and brought me chicken soup, lots of fluids, and let me sleep.  I can’t really complain since we have had great health for the trip prior to that, and if there was a time for one of us to get sick, what better time than when we had a nice hotel that we were already booked to stay in for the week and close to a good hospital if needed. Also, the entire time I was sick it rained heavily each day so we didn’t miss anything, except for home that is. Nothing makes you miss home more than being terribly ill.

The last couple of days we were there the sun actually came out and we enjoyed a couple of days by the water. Even though I wasn’t close to being back to 100% I was ready to get out of that room and get a dose of vitamin D. We did get to see some beaches in the sunshine, but they sure were not that impressive the way people have claimed. We went to a beach on another part of Nusa Dua, which is where the 5 star resorts are by the way, and it was terrible. There was at one time a concrete boardwalk built way too close to the water and had crumbled due to erosion. There was rebar, broken pieces of concrete and trash littering the narrow beach. We came upon a flow rider surf thing which was cool. Dave got to have some fun. I wanted to, but not a good idea since I was still recovering. We also walked around this shop area called Bali Collection which was nice and clearly catered to ‘rich’ tourists. We had a couple of nice meals there and some ice cream.

The last day we thought we’d check out the other side of Denpasar called Kuta which is another popular spot. It was also a congested nightmare and we didn’t even make it over to the beach so I can’t tell you what it looked like. There was a terrorist attack there back in 2009 and it apparently really set back the Bali tourism industry which has taken years for them to recover.  

Dave and I were so ready to get out of this country. The whole time we kept wondering what we were missing and why so many people think of Bali as paradise because that is so far from what we experienced. We heard the north side of the island might be a bit nicer and we had planned to check that part out, but for obvious reasons that didn’t happen. The only thing we could conclude is that it makes perfect sense for Australians to flock there because it is cheaper to fly their entire family there for vacation than to vacation in their own country, the air and water temps are consistently warm, food is cheap and activities are generally pretty cheap as well as lodging. Seems kind of like Bali, or maybe SE Asia as a whole, is to Australia what the Carribbean, Mexico and Central America are to the States- though personally I would take our options any day over Bali as I think they are MUCH nicer.

I’m glad we got to check it out, but as it is I don’t know that you could pay us to return. I’m not really sure what it is we expected, but it was definitely not our idea of paradise. If Dengue fever, dirty water, insanely crowded roads and towns, and mediocre beaches are your thing then by all means go for it. If you stay in a 5 star all inclusive resort and don’t leave, or have someone taxi you around, you will probably have an enjoyable time. I would recommend possibly staying on the northern side of the island and also if the weather is nice take a ferry to the Gili islands which look promising. Be careful travelling in boats or vehicles since safety standards are WELL below what you are likely used to. Well, really, be careful with any activity that requires any measure of safety. Otherwise, just go to Puerto Rico which is just as inexpensive and has much more beautiful beaches with living coral to see when you snorkel.

If you’ve been to Bali and had a more positive experience I’d love to hear about it. I’m sure it can’t be as bad as we experienced or hoards of people would not flock there. I just found this guide online http://baliinformationguide.com/things-to-do-in-bali/ and looks like there are some amazing places to visit especially in the dry season. We considered rafting or going to waterfalls, but it was advised too dangerous in the rainy season. Anyway, this has gotten long enough.

We went to pick up our rental car and I was thrilled to see that we got a Toyota Corolla hatchback! I’d seen them allover NZ and in Australia and love them. I wish they were sold in the states. There are lots of different cars in NZ and AU that we don’t have in the states even though the same maker. Anyway, I was glad to get our car back in the order we had it while in NZ. Also, Toyotas and Hondas have the most comfortable seats I’ve experienced in a car. (We drove a Hyundai while in Queensland and there was a metal rod in the seat just below the lumbar that presses into your sacrum. Very painful and extremely poor design; the seats are also C shaped which makes you hunch over. Who in the world designed those in this ergonomical design age?)

Once we got our car we drove to a beach to cook breakfast. When I saw the beach I was so happy. It was so beautiful, and full of people and their dogs. No stinger nets. Just gorgeous clear water and dry hot weather. We were going to hang out there for a while, but decided to check out the prison in Fremantle before getting sandy. The tour was very interesting and informative, but I was saddened to hear many of the stories such as young children imprisoned and receiving lashings. Also, women were imprisoned back in the day for things such as “idleness” or “drinking too much”. They were thought to have a serious mental disorder for doing those “crimes”. Then there were the disgusting tales of serial killers. There was a clear presence of evil in that place and I was ready to leave when it was over. It was very strange to be touring a prison that was operating in my lifetime. It closed in 1991.

We had heard about and read about some places on the coast north of Perth so we began our journey north after leaving the prison. We decided to find a less crowded beach to go to, but once we did it had become cold and windy.  We ate dinner in a park and while we were cooking, kangaroos hopped through the park grazing. They came within 10 or so feet of us! They tend to come out around dawn or dusk.

One of the first places we went was the Nambung National Park with the famous Pinnacle Desert. It was very cool. A big thank you to Rebecca Little for suggesting it.

We continued on up to Port Gregory where there is a pink lake officially known as Hutt Lagoon. It was really PINK! Our nephew Alex told us about this before we came to Australia, but we didn’t know we were actually going to see one. It can range from deep red to pale pink due to beta carotene in the water. There is actually a plant there that harvests the beta carotene to use in supplements.

We stopped at several beach towns which were all quaint with pretty beaches, but not very much to do. We played golf one cool morning in a small town called Dongara. We made our way to a town called Kalbarri which I really liked. There were some beautiful beaches there and we went snorkelling at a couple of them. We had really hoped to visit the Kalbarri National Park which has a huge red rock gorge with a river running through it, but the road to hikes we wanted to go on was closed for the next several months except to tour operators or weekends. It was early in the week and too late to go on a tour that day so we missed out on it.

We saw some amazing sunsets along the way too.

We visited this gorgeous lake of stromatolites which are millions year old bacteria mats. Beautiful. No swimming though which was torture since it was nearly 100 Farenheit that day! But cool to see such beauty.

Saw this pack of emus crossing the road. They tend to travel in groups.

 This is a spot where Dave snorkeled in Kalbarri.

These are of the pink lake from the opposite side. As you can see it is huge!

We drove on up to Shark Bay which was very underwhelming especially considering how much hype was built up in the visitor magazine and the very long drive it took to get there. At that point we were at a bit of a crossroads. Our plan was to drive as far north as Coral Bay where you can literally swim out to the coral reef from the beach to snorkel. However, from Shark Bay it was going to be an additional 6-7 hours driving one way to get there for it to possibly not be any more impressive than the towns we’d already seen so we decided to head back towards Perth and explore south of the city. On the drive back we stopped in a couple of the towns we’d passed through before and did some snorkeling.

We were blessed with this amazing sunset in Jurien Bay. We decided to camp near Jurien Bay and while we were cooking our dinner we noticed a man who appeared to be homeless. I wish we had asked him to join us for dinner, but instead we bought him some food from the grocery store. He was very grateful and we planned to invite him to eat breakfast with us, but he was gone in the morning. Lesson learned; don’t miss an opportunity when it presents itself.

All in all I don’t regret the drive north. The beach towns were nice and not commercialized with annoying high rises. The beaches had white sand with clear water. And it was an experience driving on the long redundant straight flat roads of the outback. We saw some beautiful landscapes. And it was definitely worth going to the pinnacle desert in Nambung. I of course cannot leave out the incredible weather; practically no humidity, mostly warm to hot days, and cool nights perfect for camping.