Adventures Abound in Bali

in travel •  7 years ago 

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It’s my first time in Bali.

In fact, it’s my first time in Southeast Asia.
I’m exhausted from the 36 hours of travel it took to get here, I’m excited and super curious to see what this trip has in store for me.
I’ve survived the suffocating heat of Doha Qatar, my knees are still aching from the two 12hour flights it took to get here, but I’m here.

There are aspects of traveling that remind me it’s not my first time exploring a different country, continent, or culture.

I’ve learned over the past year and a half how to plan money-wise, what to expect from the area that I’ll be staying, if I can drink the water, if the locals bargain and how to get a good deal.
Regardless of how many places I’ve been, without fail, every single time I venture to a new place I get a burst of adrenaline, of intense curiosity.

I become an avid spectator of all the new sights, smells, sounds, and faces. This is why I love to travel.

If my past travels serve as any indication, I’m probably going to discover a new favorite food, become transfixed with an animal I’ve never before seen face to face, take on a physical challenge (I know this one is in store, surfing will be my new morning routine) and I hope to make a few new friends.

The first thing that I noticed upon leaving Ngurah Rai airport was the traffic.

Not so much the amount of it, more like how it moves.
It’s like liquid if you can imagine it.
No stop signs, no strict merging rules, the few stoplights that do exist produce traffic jams accompanied with a chorus of beeps that remind me of the RoadRunner. And the motorbikes. Holy cow, all of the motorbikes.
The lane markings are really more like loose suggestions and the sidewalks are fair game if you’re on a bike and have good enough timing.

My next dose of this new culture presented with the statues of the Hindu gods and the many MANY sacrifices laid in front of nearly every store front and household, each equipped with flowers, decorations and burning incense. I’ve got to admit that I know very little about the Hindu religion and I’m sure I’ll learn more as this trip goes on.

I’m staying in the tourist-packed city of Kuta, in a simple AirBnB rental that surprisingly lives up to the claim of being in a quiet neighborhood hidden in the noise polluted city.


(Don't Miss This Video!)

The first Bali road trip took me to Uluwatu, the land of all the “serious” surfers.

This place is gorgeous. As you drive past Padang you’ll get a glimpse at the cliffs and the turquoise waves down below.
If you make it down to Uluwatu you’ll find yourself surrounded by surf shops and restaurants filled with a couple different types of people.

You’ve got the gnarly surfers who walk around with bad reef rash and are telling animated stories about how it happened.
There’s the young non-surfing crowd, Chinese, French, British, maybe some Americans who enjoy a beer while watching the sunset and head into the many dance clubs that line the cliffside.

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(Sunsets aren't too shabby here)
And then there’s the newlyweds who choose the beach for their romantic photos. Nearly every single time they’ll venture out onto the shallow reef in their nice wedding attire only to be surprised by the rising tide and waves. This does however present a moment for the groom to save the day by rescuing his new bride from falling in the water- if he’s quick.

Since the drive to Uluwatu took a whopping hour or more, my derriere needed a days rest before my next trip to Ubud.

Ubud is where I found the lovely rice terraces.

Ubud is yet another tourist destination for a couple reasons, the serene rice terraces are one, but the monkey forest is perhaps a bigger reason.

The cost is free to walk along the rice terraces and on the path you’ll find many restaurants and little stands lined up for the locals to sell you their artwork or jewelry. I was lucky enough to venture far enough along the path to meet a local man who convinced me to make a left turn and find the river down in the valley. “The water is full of energy, good for meditation, no people, very nice.” That was enough for me.
He struck me as being almost too nice and accommodating, that’s when I realized that he was working it for a tip. I caved in and allowed him to lead me down what seemed like an endless path down, with slippery, muddy steps. We walked past a lone bull chained to small structure with a roof and a giant bamboo plant. After a few close calls of me nearly losing my footing, I finally saw the river. He let me explore it on my own after I ensured him that I could find my way back when I was done. After huffing and puffing back up the steep, slippery hill I gladly purchased a fresh coconut from my new impromptu tour guide. Well played my friend, well played.

The Sacred Monkey Forest.

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I don’t know what it is that freaks me out about monkeys.

Maybe it’s that their hands are eerily similar to ours, maybe it’s because they have four of them, maybe it’s because their eyes are so active and engaging I feel like they could speak to me but choose not to.
Regardless of my irrational (or rational) fear, I’m game to go into the forest of monkeys.

Before I even officially enter the forest, in the parking lot, there is a couple of female tourists who are carrying a white plastic grocery, the kind of bag they warn you not to carry in that area. I hear a few loud shrieks and turn around just in time to see one monkey running like a bat out of hell carrying a brand new shiny bag of potato chips and another monkey scavenging inside the grocery bag to find more goodies that tickle his fancy. All while the two women are clearly having a hard time watching the monkeys get at their goods while the locals continue to warn them not to challenge the monkeys.

So in the forest, it doesn't take too long until you come across a lady that sells bunches of bananas that you can feed the monkeys. I know this is what I'll be doing eventually on this day, but I'm just not quite there yet.
After walking the length of all the available trails and being somewhat disappointed that they didn't extend as far as I'd thought, I found myself facing the facts: It is now time for the feeding to commence.
I stake out the area that I'll be luring a monkey onto my shoulder with that yellow curved fruit that they like so much and I'm praying so hard that the big guy not too far away gets a whiff of what I'm offering.
To my relief a nice medium sized fellow approaches and decides I'll be the one that he'll scale for his treat. After nearly flashing the crowd thanks to his tiny hand placement he feels actually quite comfortable perched on my shoulder. I can distinctly hear him munching on his fruit and he leans on my head a bit as I feel him relax. I'm now cuddling with a monkey that moments before I thought could be clawing my eyes out. How fast things can change!

After he finishes his treat he dismounts and I'm left feeling a bit used.
Not two minutes later, I find a water fountain to wash my hands and a smaller furry friend hops on up to take a few chugs. I gladly indulge the thirsty little guy and he reciprocates by ever so slowly and gently and sweetly placing his tiny little hand on mine, and does the cutest squeak sound I think I've ever heard.

Having tackled one of my fears I felt pretty accomplished and hungry so that ended the day in the monkey forest for me.

Next up: Mastering the Skill of Riding Waves

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Those pair of coconuts look amazing. :)

Absolutely! :)

Oh boy :)

Great article! As my wife ( @kobold-djawa) is Indonesian (from central Java) I have also been to Bali a few times. I enjoyed to read your article and watch the pictures.

Bali is on my list! I am planning to spent at least a month there in the coming future. Enjoy your stay! BTW, I watched couple of YouTube videos recently and now I see you here! You are becoming very popular:)....

It was an amazing place. We will be visiting this coming December as well.

Beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing

With monkeys it's the eyes. It makes them always look on edge, like they are about to snap and rip your face off... :)

That, or they are peering deep into your soul. Either way it's a bit unnerving haha

Nice! I just returned from my first travel to Southeast Asia and spent the most amazing 10 days in Thailand. It is worth all of the long hours kn the plane to get there! And not all monkeys are bad :P image

@george-topalov , thailand is one of favourite places to visit....the next chance i get i would want to spend a week in bangkok...i have written an article on "things to do in banngkok"...give it a try...and let me know what you think...cheers...please follow me and vote for me if u can

I'll be there!

Great post! Enjoyed reading :)

Awesome! Thanks for the share!

Love your work. Totally want to do an interview slash podcast!?!?

Amazing! Thanks for sharing :) Love the monkey on your shoulder :D

Oh Bali is so pretty. Always enjoy catching up on your travels Heidi.

wow... its my lovely country

You are a great ambassador for both cryptocurrency and the Steemit platform. Keep up the great work and have fun! We look forward to your future videos.

Hi Heidi, I am following you now, have upvoted you and resteeming. I like your reports! Are you getting tired of travelling? Just a bit?

Awesome stuff resteemed for ya!

Wow , that sunset picture ...
Maybe could take a look @ Lunyr (lun) ?
If not done yet.
Have fun , Heidi ! xxx , :-)

I want a Coconut please! Bali is a great Place!!!!

Very Beautiful Place. You seem enjoyed a lot. Thanks for sharing it with us . You look so lovely holding that coconut. ☺

Agreed.

Awesome time you're having in Bali it sounds like.

I loved the video, the monkeys are pretty crazy, and unpredictable.
I'm not sure it's a good idea to walk barefoot though :)

Love your blogs ! I also blog about my not so exotic trips :)

Really amazing post, great and beautiful place to be :0) love ur video the envitement is just breathtaking. Thank u for sharing

me too

its ur great experience @heiditravels enjoy it

Asia is amazing, we love it!

pair of coconuts??? lol
good pics

Welcome to Asia. Great views, very well Captured. If you want to observe Hindu religion closely come to Mumbai, INDIA. again its gonna be hot here around 30degree. I have a strong desire to meet you here in mumbai and i think we will. You know the law of attraction..Cheers Heidi.

Awesome post, good luck.

@jza,i have written a post "things to do in bangkok" you can give it a try...let me know what you think....btw i am following you...please follow and vote for me if you ca

Nice post.

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Great to read you are enjoying your time in Bali! Such a lovely place :)
I was in Indonesia myself last year and I highly recommend you to go to Lombok, Komodo and Flores. The Gili T.(Gili A.,Gili M.) are also nice but quite touristic.
Thank you for sharing and have a wonderful time :)

Thanks for sharing :)

It looks amazing. Love it. How are beaches in bali? i heard something about black sand...

Great video! I love seeing the surfing. :)

Some day I'll get out to Bali and surf there.

Amazing island in Indonesia. I'm from Indonesia, but I never yet come to bali,,,hehehehe. Nice adventure.

I love this! Bali is one of my next destination and I hope I get to explore it for the first time too!

Your posts provide good information. I am Indonesian, but never been there . you are lucky to visit Bali

wow very beautiful :)
seems like a wonderful adventure ;)

You captured that sunset! The colors in the clouds are amazing

wow what a great post, thanks for sharing :) I love Bali and the rice terraces
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Great photo! Where was this taken? I'd like to see this before I leave :)

the sacred monkey forest! OMG, i have a new destination

I love the photos I'm fan, amazing choice go to a place that isn't close to the city, is much better like that, beacause you can learn from the roots the real culture of the country you're visiting @heiditravels, also, I wrote a post about how we can save money in our trips, hope you can check it! https://steemit.com/travel/@maxmilan878/how-to-make-a-five-star-trip-on-a-backpacker-price

Very nice post!

So cool. I've been to exactly those places :D About 15 years ago. How time flies. The moist heat, the traffic-anarchy, getting busted by the cops for not having the "correct" drivers license, seafood on the beach in Kuta, driving around the Island, diving. It was truly paradise on earth. Great pictures and cool video!

I've never been to Bali, but it's always somewhere that's up near the top of the list! I'm fortunate enough to have been to south-east Asia a couple of times though, and due a return soon I think ;)
Haha, I like monkeys! :)

Awesome photos and writeups. Do try coming to Nepal while you're at it. After the plain land and sea in Indonesia, the hills and Himalayas of Nepal will really be a whole different experience. Follow me for photos of my travel around Nepal.

Loved your post! Keep doing these!

when the little monkey held ya hand thou. adorable! :)

Hi, nice time, I hope to talk more, bye.

That's awesome. As far as what comes next... we're all riding some kinds of waves eh? :)

Excellent post. I love the way you narrated your travel with awesome photos and great video. Lovely landscapes , beautiful animals- I hope to travel there one day . I am sure u had lots of fun on the trip. Thank you for sharing with us :)

visit india sreelanka and nepal and u will be surprised!!!

Lovely pictures! The monkey is sooo cute! <3

oh finally a new travel post! i admire your bravery, i think monkeys are all evil and stay as far away as possible from them haha. i´ve seen them stealing phones and being convinced by locals to return them - for a tip, of course. that is, if you´re lucky :D

Those little stinkers, I also have a good GoPro video of one monkey jumping on my back and digging in the side pockets of my backpack, my zippers were locked and it was strapped onto me but he found a piece of paper in the pocket, tried to eat it, another monkey got jealous, joined the party on my shoulders and continued to rummage through the other pocket.
At the time I thought they were only being playful, it wasn't until I saw the video I realized they were pillaging my goods hahaha

hahah can´t wait to see that one :D

also, definitely, DEFINITELY go swimming with manta rays in nusa penida and go to Gili Air!!!

Thank you for telling me about the manta rays :) I'll be checking that one out!

Nice monkey friend :), Great post and nice video

were you able to convince that dude to join steemit? haha :), i do the same thing.

super post :)

I love a good travel blog, and you really transport the reader. Beautiful photos, too!

New follower, looking forward to more 👣

wow what an expierience :) what a great time you had! Just had to follow you :) check out my account maybe you plan your next trip for norway :)

beautiful...good video...

Great article. It's always felt funny haggling with people until I realized it was part of the culture. Have fun surfing. Hang loose

WOW Amazing video and pics! Thanks for sharing your wonderfull adventure with us! Great post! Loooking forword for more! Cheers from Mexico!

I finally found you on steem! I've watched some of your videos on youtube as I was learning about crypto, and that's how I ended up here. I love what you're doing! I was just recently in Bali, and I'm excited to post my own experience, although you cover it pretty well here. Hope to run into you sometime somewhere in the world.

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Very nice. I will add that to my wishing list to visit. Are you going to do your own top 10 destination sometime?

I love the moneky picture. Great bokeh. Nice!

Enjoy, looks like a magic place. I am also planning Bali for next year :)

I loved the sunset, I am planning a world travel trip myself after University as in the mean time already got some saving in my travel box :) I loved your work, these kinds of works inspire me and a real indicator for me to where should I visit as my priority

Ohhhhhhh you are so blessed to have the opportunity to visit balli :) I wanted to go myself so much but I'm too poor.
Cheers for the amazing opportunity and bless you ^^
Also you look amazing ~. ~
@

Really cool trip, I like how you were explaining steemit to someone.

Good .......... this is like my area. Natural forest areas such as rice fields, coconut pihon, banana, bamboo and lots of very natural wisdom, if you want something like this that forgot bejunjung to the province of Aceh Indonesia, maybe when I arrive to my region, you must be happy and certainly can not Forgotten with beautiful scenery and pleasures.

Bali, Indonesia one of the best place in the world. Thank you for this post, we are planning to visit the place by December and by your post we now have a better idea on what to expect. Thanks again @heiditravels.

Now that you have tackled that fear ...

When my step son was in that forest, a young monkey climbed up on his shoulder. The mother monkey appeared, yelled at her baby (my best guess is "Get down from there! Haven't I told you not to accept fruit from strangers!!")

When the little one didn't come down, the mother got quite agitated. Shen then stepped forward and bit my step son. Apparently, it didn't hurt that bad, but it drew a little blood. This persuaded the young monkey to rejoin his mother (the logic being "If she'll bite a human, she'll probably kick my ass later, I'd better get down").

We then headed to our hotel where it was recommended that he get a rabies shot. Apparently, that hurt much more than the monkey bite.

My wife and I were in Ubud for a week, the week leading to the Super Bowl. We actually watched the Super Bowl there Monday morning!

Looks like you enjoyed the thrills of the many adventures that are available on the Island of the Gods. Check mine owt at @jovialjoel

Big UuUUps!

Have a lot of fun there, I was there a couple of years ago with my wife, we both really loved the place. We stayed in a resort in the Monkey forest named Nandidni Jungle resort
:http://nandinibali.com/
![Bali massage.jpg]

:)
Where you can get a massage in the middle of a running stream, It was great. the accommodations where nice as well.
Nadini Resort Bali.jpg

I recommend this resort for anyone vacationing in Bali.. Enjoy Bali Heidi

What a trip. At two minutes on your video you show a clip of you down by the cool river bed area. I was there 5 years ago. A short Bali man maybe in his late thirties now selling paintings invited us to his property past a soy bean marsh with ducks flying into it. He led us down that steep hill you show and to the river. He then climbed up a tree and cut down a coconut and some Jack fruit. He had a pig waiting to be slaughtered. We tipped him a few dollars for the experience.

That is so crazy, I though nobody really knew about this guy or place. Apparently it's not the first time he gave a tour of his land.

Beautiful there isn't I love that part of the world. I can't believe it's you're first time in South East Asia. It's my favorite part of the world. I love it so much I'm flying to Bangkok in two weeks. Will spend 3 month's in different parts of Thailand and Laos.

I'm new on here, it can be a little challenging at first. I really admire how well you have done. Over 4000 followers congratulations. If I can get 400 followers I'd be happy. I was recently in Playa del Carman, Mexico in June. I just wrote a travel report about it. You may find it interesting.

I couldn't find any photos of that guy or place but did you see that play in ubud where the men chant all native tribal style? Below is a photo

Thanks for sharing

@world-travel-pro

Love the video! It's like a virtual tour!

You have a charming smile))

thanks for sharing.. I'm lucky enough to live only 6 hours away by plane so Bali (Ubud especially) is my go-to chill out place! Glad you have enjoyed your time there

I really enjoyed the video Heidi and did you know that Cheetah also enjoys coke


@me-tarzan

Amazing pictures - great story of the monkey forest!

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Welcome to my hood! It you wanna find out some really secret places, like rare waterfalls amd mystical healers let me know. Im on PAL Discord network. Yew!

Welcome to SEA :-) Are you also traveling to Malaysia?

ooh cool come visit me if you in ubud i will get you lunch and we can chat about steemit :)

very good post, thanks for sharing all the info!! Please UPVOTE and FOLLOW me, as i've now done the same for you, thanks!

Awesome sharing @heiditravels Enjoy your travel

Bali is my favorite place. I stayed in the Bukit peninsula and surfed all day everyday ;)

When to go to Aceh, please contact us or @curiesea

Ahhh green coconuts... food of the gods!!

wow! that was amazing....thanks for sharing!!

Looks like an amazing trip! I really enjoyed the video, really gave me a sense of what it's like there. And such an adorable monkey! I look forward to seeing more of your travels :)

I really enjoyed Bali, I stayed in Seminyak and Kuta! Wish I got to do Ubud very gutted I didn't check it out it looks so peaceful and those monkeys btw are so cute. If you can you should check out the Gili Islands, which are nearby I recommend Gili Air!

awesome photos! That monkey is so cuteee!

very nice post

Thank you for sharing. Bali looks amazing!! I've been in lot of places around the world, but I've never been in Bali. I wish I could get there some day.

On my list of places to travel! Looks so gorgeous there!!! I hope you have fun anf stay safe on your travels!! :)

Nice trip @heiditravels .. I think you must go to Sabang, another Line of Indonesia. :))

Be careful of the monkeys at the temples in Bali... they will sometimes steal the sunglasses right off your face and hold it for ransom!

Nice video! I learned some thing that didn't know :) Keep up Heidi ;)

I need to go there too :)

Great post! I loved the 2nd and the 3rd pic! Lol, I fancy nature way too much ! ❤❤ :) Cheers! btw I posted something, sometime back which might interest you, about my hometown; Its an amazing place!!https://steemit.com/travel/@alexkoshy/god-s-own-country-kerala-why-should-you-tour-india-v
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Alex Koshy