Hop on a plane and say bye to Singapore! :P
Two hours &thirty over minutes later...
Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali!! With Jaslin & Chevy!
We were welcomed with flower garlands *made my nose itch* and no time was wasted, our baggage was sent over to the hotel and we were off to our first destination! *people always say that i use cameras that's difficult to operate so you won't see so much of me on film :P *
Some random shots while on the way there!
The Balinese Traffic.
If you look close enough, you can see cows chilling under the sun.
We arrived at our first stop around thirty minutes later.
Uluwatu Temple! First we gotta queue to get in.
and from there it's a pretty long walk
before the sun sets we headed to the other side to get pictures before actually heading to the temple,
look at the nicely paved stone path with a barrier to prevent us from falling off the cliff , Yes it's a cliff and we were at the edge of it.
The path wasn't paved all the way, after a few metres we were walking on dirt and we were looking down the cliff.
Our guide warned us to keep any accessories, jewelries and spectacles because of what lies ahead.
The mischievous,
Saw the monkeys hop on quite a few Caucasian tourists but the first victim from our group was none other than Jaslin, think she wouldn't like me to post the picture of the monkey on her so... I'll just post the photos of what the
1) Flower garland given to us at the airport
2)Elmo plushie that was hanging on her bag
She labels this experience as "Fear Factor" Hahaha!
Oh yeah! One of our friends had his glasses stolen from on of these fellows too! You are warned! Wear contact lenses, they won't dig them out :P
I learnt a little from all the time spent watching discovery channel, animal planet & Nat geo channel, these mischievous fellows and opportunistic and they would hop on you from the back or the sides when you least expect it, always keep a lookout and give them the deadly eye to eye stare :P *P.S. Doesn't apply if you have an attractive red plushie hung on your bag*
Now, the way to the temple, the way i see it 'just turn around and walk straight up all the way till you reach the temple'
i think this is how they(Chevy Jaslin) see it after the traumatizing experience
So on the way there... Run! Hop, Hop, Slide, Left, Left, Right, Right, Hop.
and we made it there alive!!
\The shrine the lies on the tip of the cliff.
Then it's sundown and head off for dinner somewhere near our hotel. *Which i didn't get to finish*
Checked in to our hotel, unpacked, showered and went out to get our prepaid simcards so we can stay connected to the online world. *Only managed to get this on the second night because the credit top up service was down for the whole night and would only resume in the morning*
Anyway i forgot we were looking for simPATI and i was looking for TELKOMSEL instead, confusing telcom name... anyway it cost us around rp150,000 each which is around $20sgd and it had enough credit for choosing the wrong data package and applying the right one and a few texts over three days.
We went around, bought some snacks, drinks and necessities and headed back to the hotel, and made ourselves comfortable by the poolside day bed while using the hotel's free wifi.
That's pretty much the end of day one.
This is the room
Actual room with thy roommates.
The view from the
Day Two
Walking into the temple.
The other entrance.
And we're in!
We also went up the viewing tower while at Taman Ayun Temple
Check out my long legs! *Thanks Chevy for the pic!*
Not much of a view up there but you get to enjoy the cool breeze.
So getting up there was kind of easy, getting down is another issue altogether.
This is the view from outside the temple, the whole area is like surrounded by water.
Anyway here's a random photo of a street store selling snacks and drinks outside the temple, I just like how neatly everything is arranged.
Next stop! XX hours away *I fell asleep so i had no idea how long but it's definitely more than an hour*
Pura Ulun Danu Bratan the temple by the lake and it around 1200m above sea level and that means natural air-conditioning!
We got there just in time as the locals gather for some ceremony.
And they were all gone...
Many locals here carry heavy and bulky items on their heads, most can balance them so well didn't even need to support it with their hands they could probably run a marathon with dropping it.
Here's a random one, what people would do just to get a picture. :P
Back to the main topic, The iconic temple structure by the lake.
We went deeper into the area. (ft. Jaslin)
And deeper...
till we reach this pier/plank/jetty?
and i got wow-ed by the view when i turned back.
\From there, we headed off to have our simple buffet lunch.
And this is the view from the restaurant
And we are off again to our next destination! Green School! This is indeed one of the most time-tight days of our stay there.
Over at green school they have their own public tour and here's our guide that afternoon.
It's an international school and if you look around you'll notice that almost everything is made with bamboo, from signs, buildings down to every table and chair.
Why bamboo? Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants on our planet and even if you chop a whole bunch of them down, they would grow back quickly and it would have minimal environmental impact.
Their Bamboo architecture is also different from what you would expect(like attap house maybe?) instead they are unique! And each building there is different and they all have their own characteristics.
Yes this is what their classroom look like.
Many more of their bamboo architecture marvels.
And yes, Solar panels on the left! Green energy for green school.
One of my favorite part is probably this bridge. I have no idea why thou :P
And the river flowing below it
They grow food and rear animals too! I don't think there are many other schools like it.
Cute little black pig.
Cows
Goats
Cool eh? You can call them up for a tour when you're in Bali! Find out more on their website : www.greenschool.org
Now, Last stop of the day for dinner by the beach at Jimbaran Bay.
It was really dark and we only had a few lighted candles on our table, it was a 'different' eating experience i would say.
Other friends chatting away on the long long table.
We went back to our hotel, washed up and went to roam the streets again.
That's pretty much everything for the two days. Stay tuned for Part Two!
