Here is a guest post from Peter's mom. Audrey and George were here in Bali from December 30th - January 23rd.
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We arrived in Bali and were struck first by the heat and humidity, which continued throughout our three and a half week stay. We stayed with Peter and Janet in their beautiful bamboo guest cottage, and were thrilled to be able to use their house as our base as we travelled around the island. We saw a good part of it, and had an absolutely amazing time.
Of course the highlight of our visit was spending so much quality time with our 3 grandchildren. Of our 649 pictures, it's likely 500 feature Austin, Myles or Emmet. When we were ïn residence, we loved having Myles and Austie climb into our huge canopy bed with us at 6am each morning.
We travelled all over the island- to the east, to Padang Bai where we went snorkelling on a boat, and swimming on a lovely white sand beach, and to Candidasa, where we went down a tiny steep slope to a surprise white sand beach, complete with warungs (food stalls), showers and beach chairs and umbrellas. We went to the north with Peter to the edge of the volcano, and down into the crater where we swam in hot springs amongst natives...(Peter loves to be the only bule). We went to the north east, to more mountains beside a huge park, where we stayed in an enchanting villa complete with an outdoor shower that was so much fun. We hiked to a waterfall en route to the north, and stopped at a coffee plantation for lunch. We went to the south- twice- to Legian beach, where the big waves are, and many surfers spend their days just playing their hearts out. We went to the south west, to the most photographed place in Bali, Tanah Lot- a historic temple situated in the sea. And we went over to Lombok by ferry with Peter, Myles and Austin, and spent 4 glorious days there, 2 on a remote island called Gili Nangu, where we slept right beside the waves, and 2 at the southern tip of Lombok at a beautiful unspoiled beach with a great Novetel hotel on it. We spent some lovely days in Ubud, in the heart of Bali, and hiked some gorgeous trails (we went up the Sari Organic path a record 3 times, we liked it so much). We did some great shopping and had fun bargaining, we had some terrific meals at very unusual restaurants, we wandered through the Monkey forest, we travelled on the back of Peter and Janet's scooters (or at least I did), and we had two lovely days at a very beautiful 5 star hotel in Ubud.
We had 4 different drivers in Bali: of course Peter and Janet were our favorites, but Agus and Eka were a terrific source of information, and as they took us around different parts of Bali, we learned a great deal about the customs and the ways of the Balinese. We saw ceremonies everywhere- lots of funerals, special temple activities, cremations, and many people making offerings everywhere- even around Peter and Janet's home. We loved walking over flower petals to get into the house! And on our last evening there, we had a special birthday party for Janet's Dad, complete with musicians, dancers, and many more flower petals spread around the house. Amazing
We loved the Indonesian food; George and Janet took a cooking class together, and as I write this, he is making his favorite Nasi Goreng.
And of course we loved the heat. The rainy season lived up to it's name, and we had rain most days, sometimes accompanied with very violent thunder storms, but the rain didn't interfere with our plans most of the time, and no sooner did it stop than the sun came out. It was very hot and humid throughout our visit.
The surprise for us was how populated the tiny island of Bali was, and how commercial it was- with stalls selling just about everything all along the roads. The roads are narrow, and the traffic is intense, so getting from one place to another was sometimes challenging, but it was all part of the atmosphere, and great fun to soak it up. We found we sought out places that were less travelled, and more rural, and when we viewed our slide show last night, it would appear we accomplished that, as our pictures show us on beautiful beaches and magnificent green rice paddies-virtually by ourselves!
Finally, we enjoyed visiting the Green School, which has to be seen to be believed. George, Janet and I spent a great morning in Grade 2, where we taught the students in Myles and Austin's class all about Canada. It was a red and white day for everyone.
Makasi to Peter, Janet, Emmet, Austin and Myles who were so hospitable, and with whom we had such fun. It was a trip we will never forget, and we are so glad you invited us to come and visit.
