Jan 14, 2010 – Ubud, Bali – Jake
We took a taxi ride from Kuta to DPS airport to drop off Kendall’s mom for her return voyage. Our plan was to head back to Ubud, but first we wanted to have lunch with Ellen and say goodbye. There is a fantastic place right in the middle of the airport parking lot where all the locals eat. It is incredibly cheap and serves delicious food. We highly recommend it on arrival and/or upon departure; especially considering that everything else at the Bali airport is inflated dramatically in price.
As far as taxis go, I have learned that getting to an airport is always cheaper than getting out of an airport. Bali is no different. However with a bit of local wisdom, attitude, and perseverance, you can get the price down quite a bit. Since we had already taken the ride to Ubud, I haggled and walked away from every taxi driver up and down the airport trying to hit a target price. The price kept going lower, so I kept going. Eventually, we found a driver offering a rate within my reasonable range and set off for Ubud. I think they were all asking for Rp 200000 (~$22USD) – Rp 300000 (~$33USD) for the two of us in an AC van, and we finally accepted Rp 120000 ($13USD). Our driver was completely insane on the roads and drove super fast. We must have set some sort of record time.
You have to understand that the roads in Bali are super narrow and packed with motor bikes. Usually there is just barely room for two cars going in opposite directions to fit. You can park your car virtually anywhere and block as much traffic as you want. The horn is used heavily, but not out of aggression, just to let everyone know what you are about to do. At first I thought the system was completely bonkers, but after being here awhile I think it is okay. Everyone’s first mission in life on the roads is to avoid everyone else. So as a driver you can do some really crazy things and likely everyone will still avoid you. People pay way more attention while they drive than they do in the USA, but they still find time to play with the radio, talk and text on the cell phone, and carry every imaginable item on the back of their motor bikes. I am not sure I can ever think of driving the same when I get back to the States.
Back in Ubud we set about finding a super cheap place to relax for our last week in Bali. After a month of subsidized fancy hotels, we needed something more aligned with our infinitesimal daily budget. It turns out that the home stays are the cheapest option (even in Kuta) and there are a ton of them. You literally stay in a family’s compound in a set of rooms in the back corner. We picked Donald Homestay, which is right in the center of Ubud near the market. It is a really basic place with only four rooms all with just a fan but has a beautiful garden and unbeatable location. Even though it is close to the market, it is far enough down a side street to be very quiet and near some good warungs. The room was mediocre in cleanliness, and we skimped and did not opt for the hot water at $2 extra since it was already really hot out (though the water still felt shockingly cold!). You have to bring your own toilet paper, but it only costs 20 cents per roll at a nearby shop. All this probably sounds really pathetic, but when budgeting for an entire year without income, you really have to think this way unless you are already independently wealthy (not us!). Here is a shot of the small courtyard outside the rooms.
For our one splurge of the week we chose to go to the Taman Burung Bali Bird Park. Kendall and I have been birding pretty regularly since our trip to Botswana in the summer of 2007 where we saw tons of different and amazing species. The park is a bit outside of town, but is on the bemo (ghetto mini-bus) circuit, so we thought we would give that a try. Still remembering my bemo rip-off in Permuteran, I asked at the tourist information office near the market how much a bemo should cost. Turns out the drivers tried to rip us off again when we asked how much before getting on, but backed down once they realized we knew the proper price. We sat in the bemo waiting for it to fill up with people. They don’t leave until it is completely full. After five minutes in the sweltering heat, we decided to bale.
Our new plan was for me to drive us on a motor bike. I have never been a big motor bike rider, with only a couple times experience in my whole life, but these bikes are automatic and don’t go that fast. The massive amount of Ubud traffic along with the anything goes road rules was intimidating at first, but I quickly got the hang of it. You are technically supposed to have a special license to ride motor bikes in Bali, but no one does. If you get pulled over, you are expected to wait until the officer offers you a chance to pay a bribe and do so with whatever money you have on you. Nice right. They target westerners, so be sure to wear your helmet (strap and all) and try not to stand out on the road. Filling up the petrol is super easy with stands serving gas right out of bottles all over the place at super cheap prices.
So we cruised along, trying to remember all the turns from the map. We had to take a detour around an in-progress cremation ceremony (see the picture above that Kendall snapped from the bike of a procession of men). The streets are not really labeled often, but the shops all list the street name and full address, which is key to figuring out where you are. Eventually, we knew we were pretty close, but unsure of our next turn and pulled over for a peak at the map. A local guy pulled up next to us and asked where we were going. After telling him, he instructed us to follow him. It was just around the corner and we thanked him for his trouble as he assured us that it was no problem at all. Kendall told him about an art exhibition showing her former teacher’s work that we were going to later on at a nearby gallery, just making conversation. Unfortunately, he thought we had said that we were down to go to his cousin’s gallery and look at buying paintings. We tried to clear the situation up, but the language barrier prevented us from making progress. So, we just said our good byes and went into the park, hoping it was the last we had seen of our new entrepreneurial friend.
Before I talk about the park, I have to mention that we took our time and slowly went to both the bird park and the reptile park next door. When we went to leave, easily four hours later, who was there to great us? No joke it was the same guy from before. He had waited over four hours. We were stunned and a little worried. He would not take a hint. I repeated over and over that we were done following him and were going to get food before attending OUR exhibition. Yet he still would not have it and waited for us to leave the parking lot and kept waiting at every turn. Unfortunately, he was going the exact route we needed to go. Finally, I decided that I would just pull into a shop and get a drink and let him keep going. He stopped down the road and came back to the shop we were in. I clearly stated that we were not following him anymore or going to the gallery to buy art. He finally got the picture and wanted a business card that he gave us back. I gladly handed it over and went into the shop to get a drink. Geesh. So much for a random act of senseless kindness.
The bird park was awesome with almost 1000 birds and 250 different species. If you like birds, then I highly recommend it. The price is a bit steep, but we got our money’s worth. The reptile park next door was actually really great too, with all sorts of deadly snakes and large lizards. Kendall kept getting picked during the shows to demonstrate the skills of the birds. Above she is having a Blue and Gold Macaw play dead in her hands with another bird on her shoulder.
Above she holds a friendly Cockatoo and a Ruby Macaw. The shows were all fabulous. During the birds of prey show, Kendall got to have a piece of meat retrieved off of her bare head by a Kite.
Here are some more of my favorite birds:
Hill Myna: these guys can talk and have a sweet yellow wattle.
White Pelican
Barred Eagle Owl – what are you looking at, punk?
Critically Endangered Bali Starling (Bali Myna)
Kendall has a Kite come in for some lunch. Soon they removed the tray!
Keep all your ducks in a row!
The birds-of-paradise were fascinating to watch with their intricate mating rituals.
The most famous bird of the park was the large African Ground Hornbill with long eyelashes and inflatable throat skin.
We have a bunch more photos to look at here. Thanks for checking in. We are off to Bangkok, Thailand tomorrow where we start our tour of Southeast Asia! Bali was as wonderful as I had heard, and I will surely have to come back with my kids some day.
