Thanksgiving was coming up and we hadn’t yet decided where to spent the holiday. They don’t celebrate it over here–instead it was an Islamic holiday called Hari Raya Haji. John had a long weekend and I didn’t have class so we decided to go to one of the most famous places in southeast Asia–Bali, Indonesia.
We took off early on Thanksgiving morning from Kuala, Lumpur, crossed the equator and arrived in Bali in the early afternoon. As we walked out of the airport, we were bombarded by taxi drivers insisting they take our luggage and get us to our hotel. (We didn’t realize this, but Bali is a large island–not just a little hideaway in the South Pacific. It can take up to four hours to reach parts of the islands from the airport.) Fortunately, our hotel was only about an hour away and as we were purchasing our taxi coupon–we saw him. A sweet Indonesian man wearing a safari hat yelling: “Mr. John! Mr. John! Over here!” Running up to us was Uru, our hotel’s van driver, who we would become close with during the trip. While booking the room, we had requested an airport pick-up, but it was never confirmed. And here he was! Uru was a sight for sore eyes. He loaded us up in the van and took us to our hotel: the Mara River Safari Lodge. Yes, that’s right. A safari in the middle of Bali.
Pretty excited about feeding the animals!
Our room overlooked a “savanna” and was filled with zebras, elephants, wildebeests, and even a rhino named Nelson. We even had an “animal feeding” bucket in the room that was full of carrots so we could feed the animals from our balcony. So cool! The pool overlooked the same savanna. It was and interesting experience to be floating in a pool in Bali and to see a zebra stroll by. After cleaning up, we received a phone call from our friend Uru telling us he was off work for the evening and he would see us in the morning. That night we had our Thanksgiving dinner at the Lion Restaurant (thanks, Grandmother and Papaw!!!), a dining spot situated next to a lion enclosure. Before we entered the restaurant, we had a chance to play with a baby liger–a lion and tiger mix.
With the liger
Although it was a baby, it was a pretty feisty little guy who would growl and scratch at us whenever given the chance. Never thought I would ever get to pet a liger…Napoleon would be so jealous!
The enclosure in the restaurant had 4 adult lions (1 male, 3 female) with a separate enclosure behind the bar with a large male lion to watch you while you sip on your gin and tonic. Just as we were enjoying our salads, we noticed large chunks of raw meat flying into the exhibit and the lions leaping towards it. We found out later that this was kangaroo meat (very lean and healthy, we understand). The only watering hole in the enclosure was along the glass behind which we sat (this glass was less than an inch thick–if the lion wanted to come through it, he would have had no problem). As a result, we got up close and personal with the lions. I have to admit, I was eating my meat very carefully, so as not to tempt the lion.
Pre-Safari Breakfast with the Lions
The next morning, we woke up to the phone ringing. It was Uru telling us he had come to work. With that, we went to breakfast in the same lion restaurant and gorged ourselves on a full continental breakfast including PORK bacon. Most bacon in Malaysia and Indonesia is beef since both of these countries are Islamic and anything from a pig is consider to be “unclean.” Unlike the rest of Indonesia, Bali is predominately Hindu. Ironically, the Hindu’s don’t eat beef, so beef bacon is out of the question. John and I prefer pork bacon (it’s what we grew up with) so this was a welcome treat after spending so much time in Islamic Malaysia. After a fabulous breakfast, we were off on a Safari. That day, we saw lions and tigers and bears (oh my!), elephants, white tigers, and even a few crazy monkeys. We were also fortunate to see a piranha feeding. Don’t ever stick your hand in the Amazon! As we were walking back to the hotel, who did we see, but Uru?!? He had come into the park to find us and tell us he was leaving for the day. He knew we were changing hotels the following morning (we decided to spend half of our vacation at the famous Bali beaches) and wanted us to book him to drive us there. He also wanted us to come over to his house to meet his wife and young son. We politely declined. After spending months in two different countries, this was our romantic get-away and we wanted to have dinner–just the two of us!
That is one big baby!
After a day at the Safari in the hot sun, we went back to our savanna bungalow to take a little break. As we were getting ready for dinner, we received a phone call. “Mr. Candeto, there is a baby elephant in the lobby.” That is a sentence I never thought I would hear. We hurriedly got ready and headed to the hotel lobby where we encountered the “baby elephant”–all 18 years and several tons of him. After feeding him a banana and a quick photo op, we headed into the restaurant for another dinner with the lions.
The next morning, we were off to a different hotel, this time on the beach! Uru was waiting for us at the hotel lobby after breakfast and off we went! He took us on a small tour to one of the best “surfing beaches” where we saw little old ladies and children collecting beautiful rounded stones to be sold for the hotels for landscaping and floral arrangements. We also saw some Hindu temples and some real Bali households. A few hours later, we were at our next hotel where we had a small villa next the pool, complete with a nice front porch. We spent the afternoon at a little beach bar sipping tropical drinks and talking. That night we found a restaurant with tables on the beach and ate under the stars. We were starting to really love Bali. 🙂
Merry Christmas from Beautiful Bali!!! 🙂
The next morning, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast that was brought to our front porch. We had fruits, eggs, bacon, and pastries and some amazing fresh fruit juice. After that we enjoyed a morning of reading (me for my dissertation and John for fun) by the pool. By the afternoon, we were ready to do a bit more exploring. We headed to Kuta, the touristy beach of Bali. During the day, this beach was nothing compared the beach near our hotel. It was crowded with lots of tourist traps. Kind of like Myrtle Beach when compared to Hilton Head. I was starting to wonder what the big deal was with this particular part of the island. Then, the sun began to set and I saw what all the fuss was about. In the foreground were the shadows of surfers trying to catch one last wave before turning in for the night and in the background, the most expansive sunset I’d ever seen. It was gorgeous.
Bali sunset
After this, we headed back to the hotel and enjoyed a traditional Balinese meal, then went for a swim before heading to bed. Our flight back to KL was at 6:00 the next morning, so we hit the sack. Bali was beautiful and we didn’t even scratch the surface. We still haven’t seen the legendary rice paddies and temples that are populate the inner part of the island. I guess we’ll just have to go back. 😉
John and CB's Most Excellent Adventure 