a day around Bali

one of the men at the homestay set up a guide for a few of us to do a tour of some temples, volcanos and some other tourist stuff.  it was $40 for a car/driver for the day.

the volcano was spectacular but it didn't take long for me to get annoyed at the first temple we went to.  i hate when they charge you for access to a religious place.  then they charge you for a sarong which i felt was unnecessary because i was covered from my elbows to below my knees.  it's like selling tickets to get into St. Peters in the Vatican.  yeah, it was just a few dollars but i vowed it's the last time i'd pay for access to a religious site. 


the temple was on the crater rim and so made for a breathtaking view and we did have a good discussion with the driver/guide on the religious practices of the Balanese people.  every day, all day, you can see women carrying offerings to the temples.  they feel this provides balance between what they get from the gods and what they give. the Balanese seem happy and content and interested in welcoming visitors.

down inside the volcano are some hot springs so i let my annoyance at the temple melt away with the steam and enjoy how beautiful the moment was in a natural rock hot spring in Bali.  did i mention i'm the luckiest girl in the world?

they organize hikes up the volcano side for sunrise and had i'd known how spectacular it was i'd have tried to arrange that.  it's just a seven hour hike and they run trips out of Ubud but i didn't have the proper footwear and i have been nursing a sprained ankle for a few days.  something to do on my next trip to Bali.  inside the crater are old lava flows and multiple new cones but this volcano is considered dormant.



next up on the tour is the rice terraces.  for whatever reason UNESCO has given the terraces some kind of recognition as being culturally important.  so on the side of the hill opposite the rice terraces is a half kilometer of shops and restaurants.  it feels like a manufactured tourist site... like those 'factories' you get stuck going to on an organized tour.  i say it's okay to skip this site.  it made me think of what a lost opportunity there is in the mid west.  if only UNESCO would call a corn field important, we could set up some bars and shops in the middle of a field and make a lot of money letting tourists watch the corn grow.  you could probably even charge extra to let them harvest some of the corn.

anyway, we ate lunch on a lovely platform in the middle of the rice fields and this huge toad hopped up for a visit.  i think this is the largest toad i've ever seen in my life.  bigger than both my fists put together.

mandalay - disappointing

i don't have much that's great to say about Mandalay.  i did have a look about but didn't find anything too interesting.  i think it's probably disappointing because Bagan was so phenomenal.  the famous teak bridge in Mandalay is just a wooden bridge across the lake.  there is a popular pagoda up on a hill above the  city and it's a 30 minute walk up the covered steps.  at the top is - just another dirty pagoda.  although the views are good it's hard to enjoy them with your bare feet burning on the ceramic tiles that are baking in the sun.

at the top i meet a swiss couple on holiday.  they are super sweet and very funny.  we end up spending the rest of the day together as we are both on the same tourist circuit from hell.  Sebastian has me laughing all day and especially when at an old monestary he comments, 'you can take a crap in the corner but you can't wear your shoes in here'.

in the temples and pagodas here you have to take off your shoes which would be okay if they in return could keep the floors clean. let's just say there's a lot of feet washing.

so far, the miliary presence in Myanmar has quite a low profile.  the rainy season here has ended but the rain has not.  even a little bit of rain turns the streets in Mandalay into rivers and with the open sewage system they have here it makes it both unpleasant and a health risk.  i'm booked to leave for Hsipaw [pronouced sipaw] which is in the mountains and should be cooler.

temple hopping in bangkok

temples in Thailand are like churches in Europe - one on every corner.  the biggest, most elaborate, with the tallest, longest, or most emerald seem to be in Bangkok.  it just takes a day or less to see the trinity of temples in Bangkok, unless you take a detour through Chinatown, which I did.  just the highlights, i skipped the Palace Compound because i did it years ago and the number of tourist buses outside made me dizzy.  i did go to Wat Pho and here's the proof in the form of the reclining Budha.  it's all gold so it is pretty cool.  the whole compound was pretty quiet and it was nice to wander around without  the tour groups.  they must have been through earlier in the day when it was cooler.  it is so hot and i'm drenched in sweat.

there are lots of fancy budhas here but more interesting is the conversation i have with a local Thai man who says he is pleased with the  military coup earlier this year and the subsequent installation (last week) of the new prime minister and council.  they expect elections in another year or two.  i didn't comment on how the rest of world frowns upon military coups and supports the results of democratic elections.... last time i was here they were burning tires in the street but that's going to have to wait until another post.

 i got a photo of the Wat Arun lit up at night from the water taxi the previous night when i was making my way ovver to the tourist ghetto a/k/a Khoa San Road.

i limp over to the Wat Arun which is pretty cool because it was decorated with porcelain discarded from Chinese ships who used it as ballast and it's monkey designs are the reward for climbing the very steep steps.  very steep steps, but totally worth it to explore the area and has great views of the city.

no tapir

today we are driving back across the Guatemala border across Belize to Belize City to catch a ferry out to the island.  not really interested in another substandard meal at the Jungle Lodge we grab coffee and head out.  we see a coatamundi playing and a strange tiny deer as we drive out of the park.  this area is called the petite jungle because all of the animals are smaller than counterparts found in other jungles.  as for the mysterious tapir, well we didn't see one.  given the amount of time we spent in the jungle in the dark it seems possible that we might have seen a jaguar but we didn't see one of those magnificent animals either.

it's 141 miles from Tikal to Belize City and we leave at 8:30 AM.  with a border crossing a few store stops and lunch we arrive at the ferry after 4:30PM.  i stop for some flip flops because the clay hill destroyed the pair i had.  we also find a car wash because the car is covered up to the windows with mud and clay which would surely be a flag to the rental car company.  

the border doesn't take too long but there is a line getting into Belize and i chat up an Australian couple who are touring Central America.  we lament the fact that border crossings are so unpredictable and you have to be on highest alert as the children and other hawkers crowd you. i give them a lift into the next town over which is San Ignaciao and we stop for lunch.  i buy some spices in the farmer's market and we find some Guatemalan coffee at the grocery store.  then drive on to Belize City to drop the car.  i will not miss it.  that damn alarm went off every single time i unlocked the car.  i did the driving on the mainland and was comfortable doing it.  i was glad to have the flexibility to stop and go as we pleased. it is not however, for the less adventurous traveler and most people acted surprised when i said i rented a car.

Belize City is exactly as described in all the forums and guides.  it's another place where as i do a mental risk assessment i'm sure i don't want to be.  it's heartbreaking to see the poverty and conditions that exist so close to the US. my hope for Belize is they can develop ecotourism in a sustainable way since they don't seem to have any other viable economy. 

we're taking the ferry out to Ambergis Caye and it's dark so that's disappointing and as we arrive in San Pedro the water taxi we need out to the resort is just pulling away from the dock.   i'm tired and cranky even though i celebrated getting rid of the car with a rum/juice cocktail on the ferry.  we get a snack as we wait for the next water taxi which leaves at 8:30.  it turns out to be our last chance to eat as when we arrive at our resort everything is completely dark.  we wander around shouting and eventually find the owners who's welcome is to tell us what a tough day they've had.  seriously, i've been traveling for 12 hours, doing all the stuff you just read about and i'm tired and cranky and they want me to empathize about their day?

Kirsten shows us to our room which has a lizard on the wall.  hey, it's the tropics and i expect bugs and reptiles to show up, it was the half-hearted way she attempted to get him out that was ridiculous.  her dog came in and chased it around the room for a while then it disappeared into a crack.  we never saw it again but we kept our bags zippered so we didn't take any extra critters home.  i like to pack super light when i'm traveling and because the website said they had laundry service onsite i expected to be able to get my jungle clothes washed.  so i ask Kirsten where i could drop my clothes in the morning to be told that wasn't an option.  it's late, dark and our hosts had a bad day.  i'm hoping it's all sunshine and rainbows in the morning but this stay isn't starting great.