“Selamat pagi,“ (Good morning) Ayu said as she smiled and bowed slightly with her palms together. Ayu was our very pretty 20 year-old Balinese maid and cook. She speaks Indonesian, Balinese, and some English. It was fun to learn some Balinese phrases and words. We arrived on Bali at 9 p.m. the night before after 36 hours of traveling from San Francisco, and a three hour ride from the airport. Most tourist who go to Bali stay on the south side of the island, where the beaches are white sand, the waves are perfect for surfing, and the traffic congestion is some of the worst in the world. My wife, youngest son, and I rented a house on the beach in the small village of Tembok on the north side of the island. There are few tourist in this area and many of the locals do not speak much English.
The house was about 50 yards from the pebble beach and from our bedroom we could hear the gentle surf of the Indian ocean. The first thing I noticed when I put my foot in the water is that it is warm; 82 degrees. The visibility was generally good, about 50 feet underwater. There is a reef 25 yards from the shore in front of the house that has more variety of coral than I have seen anywhere in the world. We snorkeled every day. But we did not travel 36 hours from San Francisco just to snorkel. We came to experience a different culture, hike volcanoes, raft rivers, walk through rice fields, eat exotic food, and meet the people. And we did it all. On the advice of our hosts, Erick and Anna, we hired a car and driver for $50 per day. It was good advice and cheaper than renting a car for the week. On our first day, after a breakfast of banana pancakes, fruit, and coffee, we snorkeled and then hiked to Les Falls, which are beautiful, but not too spectacular. We met a local high school teacher who was there with his brother and 21 year-old lady who was making a video for a college class project interviewing tourist. She did not speak English, so she interviewed us with the school teacher interpreting. She was a very cute, petite, and animated young lady about 4 feet 10 inches tall. She asked me if I could introduce her to any single foreign men. I told her the only one I knew was my son, Nathan, who was standing next to me. Nathan is 6 foot 3 inches tall. She got a photo of them standing together, but no date.
On our second day we took a two hour drive through villages, towns and rice fields to the Telega Waja River for a 7 ½ mile, two hour rafting trip of continuous class three rapids. It was the best rafting I have ever experience
d. Our guide, Augus, taught us the five commands before we started down the river: Paddle forward, paddle back, stop, bomb-bomb (which means pull your paddle in and hang on, the are about to crash into a rock), and lean back (when going under a low bamboo bridge). Besides the great rapids, the scenery was spectacular. The river gorge was a lush green jungle with 100 foot water falls plunging into the river, one of which we could not avoid going through. Just before the take out point, Augus pulled to the shore, took our paddles, and told us to sit down in the bottom of the raft and hang on. Nathan and I were in the front with our feet were hanging over the front of the raft as we plunged over a 20 foot waterfall created by a dam. We were looking straight down as we went over the lip of the dam. Seconds later the front of the raft dove into the pool like bird after a fish, and then popped up into still water. After a 15 minute hike up a very steep trail out of the river gorge, the rafting company provided, showers, towels and a buffet lunch at a restaurant over looking the river and rice fields.
d. Our guide, Augus, taught us the five commands before we started down the river: Paddle forward, paddle back, stop, bomb-bomb (which means pull your paddle in and hang on, the are about to crash into a rock), and lean back (when going under a low bamboo bridge). Besides the great rapids, the scenery was spectacular. The river gorge was a lush green jungle with 100 foot water falls plunging into the river, one of which we could not avoid going through. Just before the take out point, Augus pulled to the shore, took our paddles, and told us to sit down in the bottom of the raft and hang on. Nathan and I were in the front with our feet were hanging over the front of the raft as we plunged over a 20 foot waterfall created by a dam. We were looking straight down as we went over the lip of the dam. Seconds later the front of the raft dove into the pool like bird after a fish, and then popped up into still water. After a 15 minute hike up a very steep trail out of the river gorge, the rafting company provided, showers, towels and a buffet lunch at a restaurant over looking the river and rice fields. 
That afternoon our host gave Karen a professional massage. Bali is known for massage therapy. Karen was out like a light after the massage so Nathan and I walked through the small town of Tembok. I was hoping to find some yogurt, which is part of my usual breakfast diet. We did not find any yogurt, but we saw a beautiful multi-colored rooster in a yard. Karen had been wanting to take photo of rooster as the subject for a painting. The rooster’s owner was sitting in the yard and she looked at us quizzically. I told her she had a very beautiful rooster, but she obviously did not understand English. She just smiled and probably wondered if these strange white men were going to return that night and steal her rooster.
We found a bank which was happy to exchange my 100 dollar bill for rupees. The ladies in the bank were very friendly and when I asked where they suggested we have lunch, the manager walked outside with me and pointed to a nearby restaurant. I ordered broiled shrimp, which were cooked in the shell with the heads and legs attached. Our driver showed me how to eat the shrimp Balinese style, by rolling them in a ball of rice and eating the whole shrimp, with shell, head, and legs. They made a loud crunching sound, but tasted great. I am sure the calcium was good for me.
After lunch we stopped for two minutes at a large tourist souvenir market, quickly determined there was nothing we wanted to buy, and moved on to a local art gallery that specialized in womens' art. Some of the paintings were very good and sold from $200 to $1,200. Then we traveled on country roads through the jungle for the two hour ride back to our beach house.
On day five we went to the local farmers’ market at 7 a.m. In addition to the usual variety of vegetables, they had some unusual fruit, including snake fruit. After breakfast we swam out to Alex’s dive boat, which is anchored in front of the beach house. We skimmed over the water for three miles south of the beach house and anchored in about 15 feet of water. Alex and I put on SCUBA gear and dove on the reef about 20 yards from the boat, while Karen and Nathan snorkeled from the boat. The diving was excellent with visibility of about 80 feet and a variety of coral and fish. The first thing I saw was two lion fish. We dove to down to 111 feet, and even at that depth there was an abundance of reef fish and coral. When we returned to the boat after about 45 of diving, Nathan was in the boat, which had moved while we were diving. We soon learned that Nathan had saved the boat from destruction on the rocks. He was resting in the boat after snorkeling when he felt the boat scrape against the rocks. He jumped in the water and started dragging the boat from the surf, using the anchor line. Karen soon appeared and helped move the anchor. They were finally able to reset the anchor, with the boat just outside the surf. Alex and I quickly inspected the prop, which was slightly bent, but functional.
That afternoon, Nathan and I noticed a kite flying just south of our house. Walked down the road to see flying the kite and casually glanced down a long driveway. There were a couple of dozen people socializing and a band sitting on mats in the driveway. A young man waved at me exuberantly to come in and he walked down the driveway to greet me. Being the shy introvert I am, I did not hesitate and walked in and greeted him with “salamet pagi.” He responded in excellent English that they were having a Hindu ceremony and that I was very welcome. I responded that I would like to observe, but would like to get my son, first. Nathan was about half a block behind me and quickly joined me. The young man was called Made (pronounced Maa Dee), which means second son. He told us the ceremony was to honor two girls who had died. There was a small shrine constructed behind the house and a priest was sitting lotus style, chanting. There was a 24 piece orchestra sitting on mats on the driveway, with drums, flutes, cymbals, and three rows of xylophone-like instruments. It was a family ceremony of about 30 relatives, all descendents of a couple who had eight children. Made has two children and said he would not have more. He said there was no family planning in his grandparents generation, but now family planning is almost universal on Bali. We were not told how the girls died, but would not be surprised if it was an motorcycle or car accident. The Balanese appear very healthy and we saw we did not see even one obese person. The only Balanese we met who was a slightly over weight was the college educated high school teacher.
On day six our driver arrived at 8:30 for a two and half hour drive to the west end of the island, where we had lunch at Laland, where 25 foot launches take divers and snorkelers to Menjangan Island, a national marine park. We were too late to share a boat with other visitors, so it cost about $20 per person for the park fee, boat, and a guide. Oh well, we are on vacation. The boats are hand made in ............and look like the African Queen. The snorkeling at the island was excellent with a huge variety of fish and coral on a shallow ledge and wall that dropped out of sight. We saw blue lipped clams, like we had seen on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The shells were completely imbedded in the lime stone and could only open a fraction of an inch. The advantage of getting there late is that we had the reef almost to ourselves, which was much more enjoyable than bumping into other snorkelers. We did not have sarongs with us, so we could not visit the temple on the island, which is the oldest on Bali.
The next morning Karen and I walked along the beach and then Alex showed us another reef for snorkeling. It was okay, but not as good as the one in front of our villa. That night Alex and I did a night SCUBA dive from the shore in front of the villa. We saw lots of lion fish and other night predators. We did not see any eel octopus or lobster, so I expect they have been fished out. We saw locals fishing and spear fishing on the reef every day.
Day nine, our last day. I got up at 6:45 and went to a local farmers market to buy dodol , a locally made rice confectionery, as gifts for friends. It is made from black rice, coconut and sugar, which is rolled in corn husk and tied with a ribbon. It is an offering used in Hindu ceremonies. I had a glass of Bali coffee, which is very dark and the grounds settle like mud in the bottom of the glass.
After breakfast, I borrowed Ayu's scooter and drove 10 miles to a small silk weaving factory. Four women were weaving silk on hand looms. I looked at two sarongs that I thought Karen could use to make something, but the price was $70 and I did not think she would like it enough to pay that price. On the way back to the villa, I stopped at a Hindu temple at the village of Les. I put on a sarong that I borrowed from our host and walked through the temple gate. The temple was empty except for three men and three women praying at a shrine. There was Hindu prayer music/chanting blasting from loud speakers and I did not envy the neighbors having to hear the constant noise. One thing that surprised me was that the grounds of the temple were not well maintained. The lawns were brown and there was trash on the ground. I learned later that many temples do not have enough contributions to maintain them and fall into disrepair.
That afternoon we took our last snorkel dive and packed for the trip home. Nathan decided to stay another week on the other side of the island. He said later that he actually missed us. I think he just missing having someone to beat in Scrabble.
