The upside of isolation was the spa. In total, we each had 4 treatments which included mani’s and pedi’s for Lydia and I. Paul stuck to the Balinese body massage (mmm hmmm) and Callum’s fav was the foot massage. All of which ran from 7 to 10 bucks an hour.

On our transfer day from Canggu to Ubud we included a visit to the rice fields and a stop at a local farm.

The picture above the bunnies is the farm-house which houses a family of 4. A very basic, but traditional Balinese farm-house. Lydia’s favorite part of this trip was the bunnies.

After a walk through the farm and a quick visit with the farm owners (real quick, as they did not speak English and we of course, do not speak Balinese), we were treated to some traditional Balinese coffee and tea time treats most of which were made with glutinous rice flour and palm sugar. Our favorite was the fried banana.

In Ubud, we stayed steps from the market in the heart of the city at Sania’s House. A great location and for us, as we could walk to all the main attractions and had a wide variety of restaurants right outside our door. There are many things I loved about Bali, but of course with anything there is the bad and in some cases the doggone UGLY.

I could go on and on with the good list, but for the sanity of all I have narrowed it down to a few family fav’s.

Tanah Lot

Taman Ayun

The temples in Bali are plentiful and beautiful. The main religious practice in Bali is Hinduism and this cultural devotion is evident everywhere. Almost every store, home or place of business is enriched on a daily basis with handmade offerings to the gods. We were so intrigued by this practice that the kids and I took an afternoon course offered at the library on how to make these daily offerings.

Once we finished the course we quickly went back to Sania’s and placed our offerings by our temporary home.

The Food in Bali is AWESOME and very affordable. We had to eat out at least one meal every day for two weeks and we never left a restaurant unsatisfied.

The Ubud Market is a fantastic place filled with a plethora of sights, sounds and smells (Lydia wasn’t a big fan of the smells) and you can virtually find anything you need. I was happy to have Paul with me as he proved to be a master at negotiating a fair price.

The Sacred Monkey Forest in Ubud turned out to be a hit. The first time we went through we were all a bit timid of the monkeys considering our last encounter at Batu Caves, but the second time through resulted in a quiet one on one experience with a monkey. You really do have to secure your belongings while walking through this forest as the monkeys are quick and smart and know how to unzip a backpack. Luckily, there a lots of staff to unsure the monkeys don’t get too out of hand. Actually, the second time through I was having more fun watching the people’s reactions to the monkeys. Our favorite was the two beefy, lubed up Italians wearing only their shorty shorts. One bought a banana to give to the monkeys, but as soon as the monkeys approached he threw the banana and ran screaming in the other direction. Too funny.

Okay, okay, now for the bad.

As I mentioned in my last post, the garbage in some areas of Bali is quite unsightly and frankly made me sad. Some of the steps we took to try to lessen our impact during our stay in Bali was to find a water bottle refilling station. One we found close to Sania’s in Ubud was at the Library and for a nominal fee we could refill our large bottle daily. We also tried to bring a bag with us when we headed out and told merchants we wanted no plastic.

The sidewalks (when there are any) can be a bit treacherous and you are constantly faced with the decision of staying the course on the dilapidated sidewalk or take your chances walking on the road. You have to virtually watch your every step. All part of the FUN!!

The next time someone in Canada complains about the price of booze I am going to say “Aw, go to Bali”. My favorite Vodka comes in at a hefty price of $79.45 Cdn. Needless to say I have not touched Vodka since my giant Costco bottle in Hawaii. Wine, though a bit better is still very expensive. The end result….I am drinking beer!

That does it for the bad and now for the U-G-L-Y!

Never, ever, ever, leave your hotel before you hit the loo. The result can be sheer disaster. Lydia just down right refused, but you know, her well seasoned mom got the job done. To this day Lydia will not use the squatty Potty, but my child-birthing bladder does not offer me the same privilege of being so particular.

The other ugly, we had to hop on a plane and say our farewells to Bali. Such a lovely place, lovely people…lovely visit. I hope that we are fortunate to visit again one day. For now, we have safely arrived in Yogyakarta on the Island of Java and here we will stay for the next week.

We flew into the Denpasar airport and took a pre-planned hotel transfer to Canggu area. Most hotels here offer hotel/airport transfer for a reasonable fee. We will stay in this area of Bali until Tuesday, then head to Ubud for four nights and then we will head further up to the Mt. Batur area for a few nights.

Ok, so I was in charge of booking our accommodations in Bali with the only premise, they had to be cheap. I feel I did pretty good so far, but Paul finds the place a bit to “hippie-dippie baloney” for him (You know you have young kids when the first quotes that come to mind are from Disney). The Guesthouse is called Serenity Eco Guesthouse. Paul’s favorite saying over the past few days has been “Serenity Now!!”.  I chose Serenity Eco Guesthouse for several reasons; it is locally owned and operated, they try to run things as environmentally friendly as possible, they are affordable, breakfast is included in the room rate, they are steps from the beach, they have a swimming pool and they rated quite well on Tripadvisor. They also have massage rooms (which we have all visited twice), a meditation room, a yoga studio and a raw/vegan menu (Callum loves the raw energy balls).

So, I have to admit when we first arrived, I thought “aw gees…we have kids, were old and we are really out of shape!”. But actually, everyone we’ve met has been super nice…and skinny!

We stay in the Yin room which has one queen bed and two singles. The room itself is quite spacious, but the true gem is the outdoor livingroom and dining table. This is where Paul and I have our early morning coffee, which is always early due to the neighboring rooster that reminds us every day to get our asses out of bed. No snooze button on that guy! Having this extra area is perfect for us as the kids can sleep in and we don’t have to tiptoe around. Our View while sipping our coffee is the path leading to the pool.

The grounds are adorned with fresh flowers every day. We had a chat with the owner and she said she regularly picks up the fallen flowers from the ground and places them in bowls, steps and on the statues. She never picks the flowers from the plant as the Balinese believe flowers on a plant are like girls, you can not pick them, you have to let them choose for themselves when they want to fall.

The Canggu area, where we are staying, is pretty quiet and the shoreline of the local beach is lined with fishing shacks and boats. The beaches in the area are mainly used by surfers. The only real negative thing is the garbage on the beach. Instantly made me think of the Gorillaz song “Plastic Beach”. All along the beach, there are plastic bottles, spoons, combs, lone flop-flops, and Nike runners and the sort. Areas where the rivers run into the ocean are the worst. When we walk along the beach we have to wade, sometimes waist deep, through the river to carry on. This one area in particular is especially dirty and in fact I saw a man step into the river, pull off his shorts, squat and evacuate his bowels. Not so bad I guess as it flushes out into the ocean, but lets just say, that’s not something you see every day. Two days later, I had to take off my shorts and wade through that very same water and all I kept thinking was “human feces…HUMAN FECES”.  Once we got to the other side, a lovely Balinese man who watched us cross, gave Callum an abalone shell that he found. Nice! After being here for only a few days, I now know why the Balinese people are known for their kindness. While the beaches around us are a bit dirty, the beaches in the main touristy areas are kept very clean.

Walking around the neighborhood offers an aventure every time. The scenery is beautiful with a variety of shops, homes and rice fields along the way. While dodging motorbikes, dogs and cows you also have to be aware of the sudden rain showers, as we are visiting during the rainy season. The Thunder and lightning storms freaked Lydia out a bit at first, but Callum consoled her by explaining that thunder was just god farting. Now she laughs when she hears it.

Not a big worry when it rains, we just pull off, have a beer and wait it out. That’s how it is when you have no place to be. Callum likes to hold my beer for the pictures (I am not promoting childhood drinking). I have discovered the local beer does not agree with me. Not sure if it is the quality of the beer, or the quantity at which I was drinking it. Needless to say I have given up on beer, which I never really drank much anyway. Hopefully after a day or two of sobriety, I’ll be able to try a yoga class without the threat of a code brown in the yoga studio.

Balinese Petrol station

Along with all the other sites, there are the Murals and graffiti. Some of them are true works of art and in my opinion add “pizzaz” to the neighborhood.

As many of you have been enquiring about our niece Chelsea who is battling cancer, I thought I would include an update. As most of you know she ended up in hospital for the last week of our stay in KL with an infection in her port. She was able to come home the day before we left, but unfortunately, she ended up back in hospital and since then the doctors and family decided to operate and remove her port. During the surgery, the surgeon found gangrene so a good decision to remove. Please send all the positive thoughts and energy you can for brave little Chelsea who through all this, still manages to find her smile.