Bali: Temples and hikes and elephants and monkeys ... Such fun

We arrived in Bali late on Thursday night so Bill (the event producer) let us sleep in and did not open the leg until 11AM on Friday.  Nice !!  This is a par 5 leg of the trip which means we spend longer than normal here (3 1/2 days) and get to see / do more stuff (there were close to 60 scavenge options).  So, sorry for the longer blog and more photos, but there is so much beauty here that I felt compelled to keep adding more and more photos.  We spent a fair amount of time with Alan and Michael as well as Ben and Jordan here and I have shamelessly stolen photos from all of them for this blog.

The Balinese are very religious and there are gods and goddesses at every turn. Many seem frankly terrifying.

Everywhere you go there are offerings left for the gods.  Frankly, I was eyeing the cookies but there is probably terrible karmic jou-jou for eating a God's snack, so I abstained.

It is SUPER hot and humid here (many would say "sweltering") which should explain why we look somewhat wilted much of the time. But the monkeys are totally unaffected and scamper everywhere.

Our very first scavenge in Bali was to visit the elephant park and play with the elephants.  Having a professional Mahout in tow (Ben did a Mahout training program  in Thailand last month), we felt like we were experts at the whole thing (or at least accompanied by a pro).

When we got to feed them, the greedy ones would literally fill their cheeks with food and still put out their trunks for more.

Great cheeky elephant photo

Sometimes the paparazzi just will not leave you alone....

There is an green to Bali... and yes, I mean color ... that is hard to describe.  The volcanic soil creates a uniquely vibrant lushness: like in the rice paddy fields. So beautiful and strangely calming.

We had lunch one day in a rice paddy town... and this was our view from the terrace where we ate.  How can you not love your meal with this ambience?

The first afternoon we also went to Tirtha Empul to purify ourselves in the holy waters.  Balinese take the whole ritual seriously and not only fully immerse themselves in the water, but also drink three mouthfuls of it directly from the spouts.

We did the more timid scoop-the-holy-water-onto-your-face-and-head purification ceremony.

Next we visited the amazing World Heritage site of Poet's Mountain (Gunung Kawi), a very old Hindu temple site carved straight into the mountain and next to a babbling stream. Before entering, you have to first sprinkle holy water on your head.  (They obviously did not realize that I had just purified myself at the last place, but I complied anyway).

This place is a WOW: over a thousand years old and so majestic

The next day we decided to do a bonus scavenge of climbing Mount Batur.  Remember, we know nothing about what we are getting ourselves into as we cannot research anything online and we don't have guide books or any reference materials. We just blindly choose things and hope for the best.  Two clues that this "hike" was going to be dang hard (which we, of course, ignored): (a) we had to leave the hotel at 1AM to get to the top by dawn and (b) everyone at the bottom of the mountain was young and hearty.  It was not until the sun rose (many hours later) and we were safely back down that we realized we had climbed a full-out volcano.

The hike itself was SUPER hard.  You climb up an old lava flow so the rocks are jagged and uneven and the incline is STEEP.  And you do all of this in the pitch dark with just a flashlight in one hand. Plus - just to guild the lily - it started raining.

When we first arrived, a man offered to sell us rain ponchos for $1.50.  A few minutes later - after it started to drizzle - we went to buy four ponchos and he'd raised the price to $3.  In protest (stupid protest I might add) we refused to participate in the situational price-gouging ... so we ended up wet and cold for the entire trek. When we first got to the top, it was still dark and we huddled in the hut until dawn.

Needless to say, reaching the top - and seeing the beautiful, although subdued, sunrise - was quite an accomplishment.  Worthy of a celebration of warm banana mush sandwiches (which are exactly as gross as they sound) and hot tea.

We literally stood among the clouds

Next up was the hands-down creepiest scavenge. We were told to take a boat across a lake to this secluded cemetery.  So off we set...

When we arrived, it was a cemetery with open bodies and skulls - many piled on top of each other

There were even bodies left open to the elements covered only with bamboo sticks

You had to be careful where you walked because there were body parts and bones everywhere

The last morning, we went to Besakih (the mother of all temples).  What should have been a 2 hour drive was a 3 1/2 hour drive because the last 10 miles was bumper-to-bumper crawling traffic. Why?  This weekend is the largest Hindu ceremony of the year.  How cool is that? We got to see tens of thousands of devotees in their splendor (white or colored lace blouses for the women with flowers in their hair and white shirts and colorful sarong skirts for the men with handkerchief hats).

The women bring their offerings for the gods - as well as their family picnic stuff - in elaborately decorated boxes.  The Bedazzler machine is clearly making a comeback in Bali.

And yes, I got totally enthralled with the "please buy postcards from me" selling pitch of the little girls and got caught in their snare. My money went to the little one on the right in the too big baseball hat.

We spent the last afternoon learning to cook Indonesian food and then ate our way through three courses of chicken stay (with made-from-scratch peanut sauce) plus mei goreng (ramen noodles with vegetables) and dessert of sweet battered and fried bananas.  I had to waddle out of there.

Again, a country where the manliest of men wear skirts (or sarongs) and the Balinese even dress their gods and goddesses. Basically everyone - and everything - in Bali rocks the sarong.

Yes, we spent a lot of time in Bali in skirts

After Melbourne, Rainey and I are in second place all-around... but not much motivated to either try for first or even strongly defend second place.  We are having fun doing a more mellow event this year.  We are heading next to a quick 5 hours lay-over leg in KL, Malaysia and then on to Abu Dhabi (UAE).  I see camels in our future.

Mellow in Melbourne

I have never been “down under” before and Melbourne was a great introduction to Australia.  A hip, clean, pretty city with lots to do. We only had a day and a half here but we took our time and really enjoyed some of the scavenges.  We had great weather (which is apparently somewhat unusual) so being outside and walking around was such fun.  By the end of yesterday, my Fit Bit confirmed we'd walked 10.2 miles !! 

Of course we had to find Kangaroos and Koala Bears ( clearly high as kites on eucalyptus and wearing the "I'm-feeling-groovy" face).

We spent a lot of the day at the beach: swimming, riding bikes, eating at an outdoor cafe

We also had to find three alleyways that are chock full of graffiti… amazing work.

Early this morning we went to Queen Victoria’s market to find something quintessentially Australian… obvious choice ... kangaroo meat

And visited the old Melbourne Gaol (or jail for us Americans)

At the end of the Fiji leg, the rankings are as follows:  In first place: Sidney Sisters (a formidable sister team from Australia), in second place: Tatakau Brothers (yes, Ben and Jordan actually pulled it together, worked hard and did great on that leg) and Rainey and I in third place.

We are now on to Bali: a favorite spot for me. In fact, when we went there a few years ago, it took first place spot for best destination that year.  

Living the life… of shark bait … in Fiji

Anyone who knows me, at all, knows that I'm petrified of heights, sharks and prison.  But under the theme that you should do something that scares you each day, I signed up to dive with sharks in Fiji.  “Why?” you ask.  Because Ben and Jordan wanted to do it (and I am easily talked into things my sons want to do).  Plus when I agreed I thought it would be a simple reef dive where you might glimpse a shark in the far distance.  I was SOOOO very wrong.

The first clue of my total misunderstanding should have been when each diver was assigned their own dive master.  That seemed excessive to me... and a little odd. It was not until we were underwater that I realized each dive master had a large metal spike and their job was to remain close to you so they could hit the sharks in the nose when these giant predators swam straight at you. And swim right at you they did.  The dive boat dropped large chunks of fish into the water right by our heads and the sharks would swarm and fight and butt each other to get the food. (Note - We do not have the video of our actual dive yet, so I've borrowed some pictures from blogs of other people who did the same dive as us at the Bega Shark Reserve... this is exactly our experience... except our video will show me as the person cowering in the background trying to keep her head down to avoid a fatal encounter with a shark and grabbing her son's hand with a death grip).

I’m not exaggerating: sharks were fighting over hunks of food within 2 feet of us.  This was the most terrifying, National Geographic moment of my life. We literally swam with, around, next to, on top of, within a hand’s distance of dozens of bull sharks that were the size of Land Rovers.  They were all around us.

They swam so close their fins would brush my arm.  I saw their beady yellow shark eyes pass within inches of my mask.  I was so scared I was sure I would forget to breathe.  It was thrilling and horrifying at the same time.  As Ben said when we surfaced, if the trip ended right now it would have been fantastic.  Talk about an A+++++ experience !!!!

Besides the shark bait adventure, my favorite scavenges in Fiji were:

     Climbing the Sigatoka sand dunes: It was a straight climb uphill in soft, shifting sand that was as hot as lava. A true workout. But amazing views from the top. And the sky really is that blue.

     Markets:  We visited lots of markets: Nadi market, Suva market, Sigatoka market.  The vegetables and fruits on display were so similar to Barbados it was like being at home.

Except here, there is lots of Kava on sale at the markets. I’m not sure exactly what is in Kava but it makes your lips and tongue go numb and tingle for 1-2 minutes after you sip it.  And it tastes exactly like muddy water from a stagnant creek.  "Yum !!!!," said no one ever.

     Kulu Wildlife Park: We walked through the wildlife park and Jordan rocked the whole “I have an iguana on my shoulder” look.

     Cannibal Fork: The scavenge was to find and explain what is a  cannibal fork.  Naturally I thought it was an euphemism. Not so much.  They really sell wooden spiked instruments that were (hopefully in the distant past) used by cannibals to gouge out people’s eyes for eating. Nothing creepy about that.

       Mud baths:  We did a complicated - but remarkably enjoyable - multi-step procedure from being coated in mud (which felt exactly like  being coated with warm chocolate pudding ... probably someone's fantasy), to soaking in thermal pools to hearty massages by burly Fijian women.  Alan and Michael came with us this morning so it was extra fun to share the experience with them.

A few observations.  Bula means hello or welcome in Fijian so I had to take a photo of the Golden Arches welcoming us (and yes, it was a scavenge... I wasn't just visiting McDonald's for a quick Big Mac fix).

A quick comment on the Fiji attire:  Fijians are powerful, strong burly people.  When natural selection occurred, the very fittest of the fittest survived here.  Yet the main dress for these super-macho men is a skirt.  It was so unusual to see school uniforms that are the exact same for the girls as the boys: everyone is in skirts.

The Fiji leg ended at midday today and we then found out that our next destination is Melbourne, Australia.  Another fist pump moment as I've never been to Australia. Great itinerary so far. Two new countries in a row.  And best of all, I was not eaten by a shark this week. Life is good.

Great Escape Round-the-World Scavenger Hunt 2015: FIJI

Today is my favorite time of the year … the annual start of the Great Escape round-the-world scavenger hunt.  This year, the Great Escape trip organizers (Bill and Pamela Chalmers) have promised we will visit 10 countries in 5 continents over the next 23 days. We leave tonight from Los Angeles and our first destination is Fiji (which is awesome because I have never been there).  We have no idea where we are going past that country. And we will not be told the next destination until 4 hours before we leave Fiji.  The trip is designed to be a “blind date with the world”… And all to raise money for charity. What could be better than a great adventure for a good cause.

The rules are simple: for the next three weeks, we will compete against 8  other teams by taking on challenges, solving riddles, deciphering codes and finding obscure items in countries all around the world.  We will spend 1-4 days in each country and will undertake dozens of scavenges at each stop.  Since we are not allowed to use any technology to guide our way (no Google, no internet searches, no help from hotel concierges), the competition is designed to truly test your wits as an international traveler.  Language barriers will make us great at charades.   Getting lost will be a daily test. Being pushed outside of our comfort zone will be a consistent - and scary – reality.  The Great Escape event is thrilling … and hard … and magnificent.

This year’s teams include:

Rainey and myself: This is our 8^th time on the trip.  Rainey had a pretty serious injury three days ago (he dislocated his hip) so we will be participating at a more cautious level than usual.  No running around twenty hours per day.  But we are still going to do as much as we can and are again Team "Lawyers Without Borders."

My sons: Ben (19 years old and on a gap year between high school and college) and Jordan (15 years old and a freshman in high school).  They have both been on the trip before (it is Ben’s second time and Jordan’s third time) but never together.  My boys fight famously with each other so the real trick will be just getting them around the world without them killing each other.  They are competing as the "Tatakau Brothers" (Japanese word which means warriors as well as fighters... pretty appropriate). 

Our dear friends, Alan and Michael:  Alan Emtage is from Barbados and is world-renowned as the creator of the first internet search engine (the precursor technology to what is now Google).  Alan and Michael live half the year in Barbados and half the year in Provincetown and this trip falls right in their transition time.  They are extremely well-traveled so they will likely have been to many of our destinations already. Indeed, Alan is the only one in the group who has ever been to Fiji before.  So glad to have them on board. Their team name is "Hello World."

The other teams are: Two repeat competitor teams: Fiona and Katrina (sisters from Australia: "The Sidney Sisters") and a retired couple (Michael and Anita: "Captain Marvel and the Pi Baby")
Plus a mother-daughter team ("Savvy Scavengers"); a doctor and nurse couple who got married last weekend and are on the trip as their honeymoon ("Buns and Bird"); Erik Walker (a lawyer from Austin) and a couple from New Orleans.

Let the games begin.....!!!!!