Indochina Day 4, Bicycle Tour and on to Chaing Khong

Tuesday May 30^th

First thing this morning we went on a bicycle tour. We rode with two guides through the outskirts of the city and into the country. We stopped at perhaps the nicest temple I had seen yet in Thailand. The inside was beautiful, with the green lit Buddha, the teak ceiling and the columns of inlaid shells. The second stop was at a leper colony. This colony has existed for a hundred years. There are not too many lepers there anymore, as leprosy is now under control in Thailand, but there are still some old people who are crippled up with it. They make crafts and paint to make extra money. The colony now has a hospital for trauma victims too and it also operates as a seniors home.

We rode the bikes for a couple of hours, on flat land, so it wasn't strenuous, but it did feel good to be riding again. We stopped at a small village restaurant for lunch. Dessert was a fruit called rambutan which is very similar to leechy nuts. After that we stopped at one more temple before continuing to ride back to the hotel.

There we had a quick shower, packed and loaded up in the minivans (we have two) and began the drive to the Laos border. About half way we stopped at an amazing white temple that has been built by one man as a show of his devotion to Buddha (and his wealth). This complex completely out classed the castle on Ahmic Lake Road! It has become a tourist stop complete some characters from Hollywood movies and with shops and snack places. I managed to find another pair of sunglasses. I really like these ones and hope they last.

We arrived at Chaing Khong at about 6:00 and settled into our rooms and then gathered together at the restaurant for dinner. The food was very good, and I had cashew nut chicken. We hung around the restaurant and bar for the evening as there is nothing to do in this small town. The man in the beer shirt is my Australian guide, Richard. Then off to bed.

Indochina Day 3, Chang Mai

Sunday May 30^th

The train arrived in Chang Mai on time and we offloaded, caught a minivan and arrived at our hotel by 8:00. The whole group had opted for a Thai cooking class, but that didn't interest me, so I went for a walk around the old part of Chang Mai. Once upon a time it was a walled and moated city. Today most of the moat that is left has been converted to fountains and most of the wall is missing except for a few entrance gates. There are numerous temples of various ages and as always they are mostly red and yellow and contain gold images of Buddha either sitting, standing or laying down. I visit a few temples and had a good long walk around the inside of the old part. I was also looking for new sunglasses but no luck today. I stopped and had a mango smoothie at a cafe. Also saw a small market with people selling snack food to locals. That's where I saw the plates of fried insects. No I didn't try them.

Then I went for a Thai massage at the womens' prison! This is a recommended activity by GAP. It is a vocational retraining opportunity for some of the inmates. There is also a restaurant where the can learn cooking and waitressing. The massage was quite good and relaxing. They gave me basically a hospital gown to wear and then she washed and massaged my feet, before moving on to my legs, arms and back. Most of it was just pressure on certain points, but some was twisting your body. For example she held my right shoulder down while my left leg was bent at the knee and she pushed as far as she could over the other leg. Or when she got me in a full Nelson from behind when I was sitting and she twisted me as far as she could in each direction. Anyway, it felt good and if it helps them, so much the better. There were a number of uniformed officers around and I had to pay 180bhat (about $5) to one of them.

After that I walked back to the hotel to meet the group for our afternoon tour. We went by minivan up 1500 metres to the top of the mountain to see a famous Royal temple, called Wat Prathat Doi Suthep. The golden pagoda in the centre of the complex is said to contain relics from Lord Buddha. This is a holy pilgrimage temple for Buddhists. We had to walk up three hundred and four steps from the parking lot. It was beautiful and well maintained. We stayed there to hear the monks chanting outside the temple and then we followed them inside to hear them again. It was quite interesting. They even blessed us with holy water. After that we headed back down the mountain to have dinner. It was at a nice small restaurant and the food was just okay. Then we wandered around the night market for awhile and then back to hotel to get ready for bed.

Indochina Day 2, Canal Tour and Overnight Train

Sunday May 29^th

My new room mate came 'home' about 2am. I heard him come in, but didn't meet him and fell back asleep. In fact I sleep so well that I didn't wake up until 8:10 (my iPod said 9:10 Indonesian time!) and we were to be checked out and ready to go by 8:30. So, I woke up James, packed and headed downstairs for a quick breakfast.

Met the group. There are nine of us. I am again the senior citizen and only Richard the guide is anywhere near my age. There are two couples, two single guys, me and my bunkie James, and three single women. That's all I know so far.

The first thing on the itinerary this morning was a longboat tour of the canals of Bangkok. We stopped at a home that is on stilts and is an art studio and was built from solid wood about a hundred years ago. After that the group was going on a tour of Wat Pho, the huge royal temple complex where the most beautiful reclining Buddha is located. I had gone there on my week before, so I decided to give it a pass. Instead I took a public bus to Asok station and had a look around the area there again. This is near where I stayed before. Had lunch there and then took the underground subway back to the Bangkok Centre Hotel. The subway is very modern and all platforms have sliding glass doors that prevent someone from falling or being pushed or committing suicide. When the train arrives, its doors and the platform doors both open simultaneously.

Thailand is a 'second' world country, quite developed and yet still with lots of poverty and a wide gulf between haves and have nots. That is what the uprising was about last year. The red shirts represent the poor and rural population and the yellow shirts the middle and upper class. During recent elections the poor generally get the government elected but then somehow the upper class usurps power and they take over the government. This is causing lots of tension in the country and it is only the beloved king who manages to hold it together. However, he has been living in a hospital for two years and is quite sick. The population does not like his heir, although they love his sister. Recently the government was dissolved and there will be another election soon. So, the worry according to the BBC is that if the king dies this country could be torn apart my civil strife.

At the hotel I picked up my laptop and went to a nearby cafe that has wi-fi at 40bhat an hour, as opposed to the hotel's 214bhat an hour. I stayed there for a bit blogging and e-mailing. Then I started a conversation with another guy who was also computing. His name is Scott, he's 49 and from Hawaii. We had a great talk for an hour about travelling, music (he's a guitarist), Thailand and bunch of other stuff. Great guy, I wish he was on my trip. Anyway, he's got my blog and is very interested in what I have done and will do. So maybe he'll be in touch.

Back to the hotel to join up with the group and then walk across the street to the train station. We bought a bit of food and drink and then boarded our sleeper car by 6:00pm. I got to talk to James, my bunkie, and another couple , Graham and his wife, from England, who were in the seats beside me (who are in the bottom picture - my roomie is top right and my empty bunk is bottom right). Also went and sat with Richard, the guide, and talked to him for a long time. I'm going to enjoy his company. He lives in Laos and married a woman there. We are going to have dinner at their house one night. About nine the porter came around and made the seats into beds and we settled in for the night. This train is not compartments, but is like the train in Some Like It Hot. I read and listened to music and then slept fitfully, but better than I anticipated.

Indochina Day 1, Island Hopping

Saturday May 28^th

Today was a full travel day: walking, boat, shuttle van, airplane, airplane, and taxi, from 8:00am to 8:30PM.

Up early and had breakfast. I then walked back to the beach area where the shuttle boats were. Took the boat back to Lombok with about twenty other tourists and no locals this time. At the Lombok harbour I bought a new pair of sunglasses and then walked about 500 metres to catch the shuttle van to Senggigi Beach and the Graha Hotel where I had left my big bag, and then continue onto the airport. The drive along the Lombok coast was beautiful. At one point I asked if we could stop to take a photo (the one of the beach) and while taking the photo the lens popped out of my new sunglasses! Picked it up and discovered the frame was broken. Shortly after on the van I examined them again and found the other piece of frame was also broken. So, they lasted about a half hour! That's six pairs of sunglasses so far for anyone who is counting.

The airport at Mataram was lots of fun. There were two flights from the company I was flying with (Lions Air) on the board, mine at 12:35 and another at 1:30, which was already marked as Delayed. When 12:35 came and went and no one said anything or made any announcement, I started talking to other people. Someone said the flight was delayed. I was worried because I had a connecting flight to catch. I talked to a young American couple who had two more connecting flights to make on their way home. I asked them to watch my stuff and went out to talk to the company's reps at checkin. They didn't have much to say and just smiled. I got a bit upset and told them that they can't just let people sit there and not tell them why their flight was delayed and when it might go. I told them I had a flight to catch and they wanted to see my ticket. I told them it was in the bag I had checked. So, they went back and got it (it hadn't gone anywhere). So, the agent said she would move me to another flight that was leaving earlier and I should be okay. She moved me to the flight that was delayed at 1:30. This didn't make sense to me, or you either probably, so I asked how the flight after mine and was already marked as delayed would leave before mine. Then I found out that the 1:30 one had been delayed since 10am and was supposed to leave before my flight. I hope that is clear. Anyway, they also said that they'd put my luggage on with the crew (presumably with the weapons too – see the photo) so that I could get it as soon as we landed and not have to go to the carousel. I was happy and told her about the American couple. She did the same for them but I don't think they'd catch their flight though as it was earlier than mine.

The flight did come and leave by 3pm for the 40 minute flight. Landed, got my bag from the crew on the taramac and raced from the domestic area to the international area at the other end of the airport. There was no on at the Thai Airlines check in and only one lady checking in. Checked in and had to go through customs and all that before I got up to the gate and found the flight already boarding. So, I made it and really no harm done except for stress, because instead of waiting at two airports for an hour and a half each, I waited at the first one for three hours and none at the second one.

The flight was good, dinner decent and I arrived back in Bangkok by 7:40. Finished reading the book Marching Powder, which I had heard of since South America. Good book, and is apparently true, but parts are hard to believe and also hard to feel sorry for him, as he is a drug dealer afterall. Caught a cab to the hotel and am sitting in my room typing this and waiting to meet the new GAP group who have gone out for dinner. I knew I was going to miss the organization meeting and the introductory dinner, but thought an extra day in Indonesia was worth it.

I got a note from the new guide with some forms to fill out. After doing that I went down to the lobby and met him. His name is Richard. He is probably fifty and from Australia. Seems like a really decent guy, so should be a good tour. Now I'm heading to bed to catch up on some sleep.

Indonesia,Day 7 Gili Trawangan

Friday May 27^th

Woke up early again this morning and went and wandered on the beach for a bit before breakfast and then packing up and waiting for the shuttle. It came at 8:30, and after picking up another five people, we drove for forty minutes to the harbour. Lombok is what I thought Bali would be like: less traffic, beautiful coast line road with hills and lots of lookouts to gorgeous mostly deserted beaches. Lovely island.

I had purchased a ticket for the ride to the harbour and the boat to Trawangan Island, the largest of the three Gili Islands, and the return trip. The other two are smaller and flatter and called Gili Manu and Gili Air. Got there, they gave me a ticket for the boat and told me where to wait. Finally, after twenty minutes the boat started to load and I found out they had given me a ticket for a boat to the smallest of the three! That would have been fine except I had already booked and paid for a hotel on the other island. So, I had to quickly sort that out, with much confusion, and then wait another fifteen minutes for the shuttle boat to Trawangan. We were on a boat loaded with lots of supplies for the island. The ride across took about forty minutes and was quite pleasant.

This island is small and there are no cars or motorcycles allowed on it (no dogs either). So they use horsecarts. I knew my hotel was close to the harbour, so I walked. Lovely, new little hotel recommended by the hotel on Lombok. Checked in, got my room and then went immediately the beach. It is very hot and sunny and I needed to cool off. The water is lovely and warm and aquamarine. Swam for a bit and then went for a long walk on the beach around part of the island. Stopped at a restaurant and had a clubhouse sandwich and had a good conversation with a Frenchman about travelling alone. Then I walked back again, he took off on his bicycle. Walked, swam, people watched, and more of the same, for the rest of the afternoon.

After the sun went off the beach, I went back to my room for a swim in their pool and then a shower. When it got dark I followed the road back to the village area, which from what I can see if a bunch of restaurants and bars. It was a beautiful evening, warm with a perfect tropical breeze blowing. I chose a nice restaurant for my final meal on the islands of Indonesia. I had a shrimp cocktail, a tuna steak and a fried banana with chocolate sauce, once again alone by the beach listening to the waves. Walked around a bit more and then headed back to the room to blog and get some well deserved sleep.

Indonesia, Day 6 Lombok and locals

Thursday May 26^th

I woke up early this morning and walked out to see the beach in the daylight. It is very nice and again deserted, but it was only 7:00am. I went to the restaurant for the included breakfast and sat at a table right by the beach. After eating I went to the reception and arranged for a transfer and a boat ticket for tomorrow. One last adventure before I resume tour groups.

Then I went for a long walk along the beach. Headed to the left first but that didn't go far. Then to the right and walked along the horseshoe shaped beach and around a point to the next beach, which is actually nicer. I spent a long time walking to the end where I found another turtle hatchery. The weather is very warm and I kept going into the water to cool off and then continuing. Again there are very few tourists as this is the low season. Along the way I saw fishermen hauling their boats out of the water, a large group of locals picnicking and school children playing in the water. Many of the women were Muslims wearing the head scarves. One of them was all excited seeing me and wanted me to talk her picture, then she thanked me for doing it! (Actually Bali is 95% Hindu and Lombok is 85% Muslim). When I doubled back I decided to sit and watch the locals. It was fun watching the children especially. A large group of them came and sat all around me. A couple of their teachers came and talked to me and then called them all off. But they were back again shortly and we had to do it again.

Mid afternoon, I went back to the hotel, checked mail and then went to the local town to use the ATM. From there I was able to take a short cut that led back to the hatchery so I could hang out on the good beach for the rest of the day and then walk back again. I sat on the beach, read a bit, swam a few times and talked to a lot of the local men who are trying to sell souvenirs. They are having a hard time because there are so few tourists and no one seems to be buying anything. They are very nice people and respect a no or no thank you and don't pester you. Another man came and sat with me to practise his English. So, it was a great day hanging out, relaxing and talking to locals. I felt much more relaxed today.

I'm not sure what happened in Bali, except that it is way too busy with traffic and pollution in the main area and the beaches aren't quite what I expected. It all put me in a bit of a funk. Maybe I've been on the road too long, or maybe my disease of FOMO is near fatal. I am running out of time and am trying to fit in as much as I can. If you haven't figured it out yet, I like to be on the move and see and do as much as possible. Sometimes I find it very difficult to sit and relax. I think I did Bali an injustice but, I'm glad I moved here. And relax I did.

Sat on the beach watching and waiting for the sunset, but after looking very promising it petered out and disappeared behind a bank of clouds. So, I walked back to the hotel and showered. Then I went for dinner at a local restaurant on the beach (because my hotel restaurant was empty). I had crab and corn soup and a grilled fish with a 650ml beer. After that I went for a walk through town for a bit before heading to the internet cafe to update the blog. Then back for reading and sleeping.

Indonesia, Day 5 Beach and More Riding

Wednesday May 25^th

When I got up this morning at 7:00am, the first thing I did was take a walk down to the beach and have a look at it in the sunshine. Actually, the beach is quite nice and very deserted. Black volcanic sand, like Costa Rica. I decided to have a morning swim, since I hadn't even been in the ocean since I got to Bali. The water was great temperature and I enjoyed the dip. I decided I was going to hang out here for awhile and make the best of it. First I headed back to the room, and got my wi-fi money back and had breakfast in the little restaurant.

Then I went back to the beach and had another swim. There are some coral formations quite close to the beach and using my goggles I could see some very bright neon blue fish and a lot of baby blue starfish!Gotta wonder why a starfish would be blue, they certainly are not camouflaged. I swam for awhile, walked the beach for an hour and relaxed on a chaises. On the way back I walked through a dive centre's property and discovered that they hatch green sea turtles. The turtles lay eggs on the beach and these people dig them up and hatch them, keep and raise them for three months before releasing them to the wild.

At 2:00 I mounted up again and headed out on the scooter for the return ride to Kuta. I have decided that if I can't find anything along the west coast of the island that I will go and see Alvan and try to move my flight to Lombok up one day.

The ride down the coast was really nice. The scenery was beautiful, saw lots of terraced rice paddies, but the only beach I saw was totally deserted and had rows of really big breakers coming in. The traffic was good most of the time, but there were lots of trucks and riding behind them is not much fun, as they all have exhaust problems and kick up stuff off the road. There is always grit in your eyes. I found my way to Kuta without incident but then got totally lost in the city and couldn't find Alvan's shop for an hour. When I finally did, I rearranged my flight to this evening. I have decided to leave a day early, because I haven't found what I am looking for here and I have heard really good things about Lombok.

So, I had time for dinner at a nearby cafe before Alvan's friend drove me to the airport. The plane was delayed a half hour, but when it came it was half empty and the flight was only forty minutes. We landed at Mataram International Airport. Alvan had arranged for a friend to pick me up and take me to my hotel which is on Senggigi Beach. I couldn't see anything on the half hour drive because it's dark, so I have no idea what it is like here. I'm checked in but, the only problem is the hotel has no wi-fi despite me asking Alvan to make sure it did. I found the beach by listening to the waves. Then I took my computer to a local Internet Cafe to update the blog. Then back to the room to get a good night's sleep before tomorrow's adventures.

Indonesia, Day 4 A Long Day's Ride

Tuesday May 24^rd

Today I spent a lot longer on the scooter than I anticipated. The ride heading north from Ubud to the north shore is not as simple as I expected. I had to take a number of smaller roads to head west in order to pick up the main road north. I stopped and asked directions a lot, but still had some trouble. Started out well, but made a wrong turn somewhere and had to double back for a half hour. Finally picked up the main road at Tabanan and headed north. Up to this point it had been mainly through towns and the road was lined with shops. The further north I rode the more rural it became. The island is very green and lush, and there are lots of rice paddies and palm trees. The road began to climb and as I crossed the island I rode up and over a mountain pass. The air was quite a bit cooler and there were some really nice views. At one view point I saw some more monkeys eating bananas and several Chinese tourists who were on a tour bus, all took pictures of me and my scooter!? I watched some women digging and carrying mud out of a river on their heads, not sure why they were doing that. Got stopped today in a police road check, but they were just checking for driving licenses and luckily I had my International one, so no big deal. Actually after they saw it they were very friendly.

After three hours I arrived at Lovina on the north shore. I was handed a business card for a beach cabin in Lovina by a young man on a scooter. This is where I intended to stay tonight, so I followed him there and he showed me a nice enough room, but I wasn't impressed with the beach. It was black sand with small stones in it, and there were lots of fishing boats on the beach. There were very few people around. Writing this it sounds kind of idyllic, but it wasn't what I was looking for, or had pictured in my head. So, I decided to give it a pass and head west looking for a better area. Well, I never found one. I expected, and was lead to believe that there were lots of beaches and guest houses up here but not so. There are a couple of big resorts, but the beaches are not nearly as nice as Thailand. My travel agent had told me to go to the northwest end and it would be beautiful there. Not so. I found a national park, and a village, but that is only a harbour for ferries. There are no nice beaches, hotels or any tourists. I was very frustrated and was about to head back to Kuta, but that was another three to four our ride and it was already, four o'clock. So, I doubled back and managed to find a nice cabin hotel that wasn't too expensive. Checked in, bought a few snacks and headed to the beach. Again it is not the greatest beach and there is coral and rocks in the water out front. So, I sat and read for awhile and tried to relax. I'm frustrated, in that Bali has always been a dream of mine, and in some ways I am finding it disappointing. The culture and the scenery are very nice but the beaches aren't what I hoped for. Either I'm missing the best places or they aren't here. However, I did really enjoy the scooter ride, that was a lot of fun.

Now I'm going to have dinner at a tiny restaurant on the premises and then try to do some computer work, but you have to pay for wi-fi. Oh well. So, I bought a card for an hours access and explained I didn't want to start in until 10:30. No problem she says. Then when I went access it the password didn't work. So, either she gave me the wrong password or a card that had already been used. So, I read for a bit and went to bed. While having dinner I talked to a French Canadian couple and their two teenage boys who are travelling for six months. She is a teacher and is on a half year sabbatical and he is a college instrument in Radio and Television Arts. We had a good talk about travelling, teaching and the TV business. They are home schooling their kids as they travel. It would be interesting to see how the kids fair when they get back or did they miss something. I'll never know.

Indonesia, Day 3 Ubud and Monkey Forest

Monday May 23^rd

This morning I packed up, checked out and went to the travel agent. I told him I wasn't very happy with the driver yesterday, because he wasn't really a guide and his English was poor and complained about all the admissions I had to pay for the sites, when I thought it should have been included, because on the other tours it is. He reimbursed me for my expensive and apologized. Then I booked a return flight to Lombok Island for Thursday and two nights in a hotel there. Plus I booked a scooter for the next four days. All of which cost me 1,554,000 Indonesian rupees, or $183! I left my big bag here with Alvin and just took a few things in my daypack.

Set out on the scooter, found the highway and promptly made a wrong turn, that set me back about a half hour. Nothing here is marked clearly and traffic is somewhat unnerving. There are vehicles coming at you from all directions almost all of the time. Got sorted out and continued in the right direction. Shortly thereafter I got pulled over by a policeman on a scooter. He told me I had made an illegal stop because I had stopped in front of a white line. Another cop showed up too and after checking my International driver's license, they told me I would get a fine of 200,000 rupees ($23). Then the second cop left. So, as the first one was about to write up the ticket and was asking my name, I told him that he should be nice to tourists, and forgive my one little mistake. I told him I was lost and trying to find my way to Ubud. He kept saying 200,000, I told him that was too much money for a silly mistake. So, he asked my how much I wanted to pay! At that point I thought it was a payoff, rather than a ticket. So, I told him it wasn't fair and he should be a nice guy and let me go... and he did! I talked my way out of the ticket!

Finally made it to Ubud about an hour later. The first thing I found was a large central market, that congested, dirty and full of small shops selling all manner of touristy things. Then I went looking for the Mandela Wisata Wenara Wana, or the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, and after some confusion I found it. I spent a couple of hours there watching the antics of a large number of macaques. They are considered sacred monkeys and have the run of the small forest. They have no fear of humans and will take food from your hands, and climb up you to get food that you might have in your pocket or backpack. One climbed up my leg twice trying to get my water bottle out of my pocket. I watched them grooming, nursing young, swimming and playing in a pool, one examining a dead toad, a couple of others rolling rocks on the concrete sidewalk as if they were trying to grind something, and running around chasing each other. It was a very entertaining visit.

After that I decided to get a room for the night. I had seen a sign for “Nick's Homestay” that intrigued me because it said you stayed inside an authentic Balinese complex. So, I checked it out and discovered it was a hostel in what used to be a Balinese temple. It's really cool and a room only cost me $27 with a hot breakfast included and free wi-fi.

After asking the guys here a few questions I decided to go buy a ticket for another cultural dance and to take another ride on the scooter out of town to the rural area and see some terraced rice paddies. The ride was really nice and the countryside was very lush and beautiful. It was interesting to see the people working in the fields and going about there business in the villages away from all the touristy stuff. I took several side roads, that were full of twists and turns and up and down hills. I found some of the paddies but not what I thought I should have found. But I had to turn around and go back because it was getting late and the sun was going to set soon and I had a theatre ticket. I got turned around going back and it took me awhile to find the main road again, but I did it by a different route. Unfortunately somewhere along the way I lost my new sunglasses, they fell of my shirt.

When I finally made it back to Ubud, I parked near the theatre, walked around a bit, found a restaurant and had dinner and then went to the theatre. The dance was interesting, very stylized, with pretty women and beautiful costumes, with lots of hand and face movements. Then I went back to Nick's for the night to blog and read.

Indonesia, Day 2 Bali Cultural Tour

 

 

Sunday May 22^nd.

Happy Birthday Dad!

The driver and car I hired for today, picked me up at my hotel at 8:30. The driver's name was Arta. Our itinerary includes five sights that I thought would be interesting. The first stop was about an hour away at a theatre to see the famous The Barong and Keris Dance. Actually it was more of a dramatic play than a dance, and even though I had an English translation of the storyline, I couldn't really make sense of it. It started with about fifteen minutes of an ensemble of musicians playing Balinese traditional instruments, but to the uninitiated it sounded like an orchestra tuning up. Then the Barong came on stage. This is a mythical creature that they created as a puppet with two men inside, much like a pantomine horse. There were a number of characters and the acting looked similar to a play at the elementary level. However, the costumes were interesting. Enough said.

The Indonesians look and act like Indians. They are not quite as aggressive, but definitely more than Thais, when they are trying to sell you things, which is most of the time.

The second stop was a Hindu temple called Goa Gajah, but billed as the Elephant Cave. The sight is in a lush little valley with stone carving decorating it, including the entrance to a man carved cave. Inside the cave is a statue of Ganesh, the elephant God of Hinduism.

The third stop was at the former palace of one of the old kings of one of the areas of Bali. The palace is nothing special to speak of and is no longer in use. It's so exciting they don't even charge admission to it. I told the driver that I wasn't impressed so he took me a little further to a temple called Kertha Gosa, a royal garden and a small museum of the royal family. This was a little more interesting.

The fourth stop, another hour drive, was at what they refer to as the Mother Temple (don't know why, but I asked a couple of people and didn't really get an answer). The official name is Besakia Temple. This is a huge complex of temples built on a hill with a mountain behind it. The scenery is spectacular and the temple construction very beautiful, built in pagoda style. I wandered around there for a couple of hours. I took that photo of the cute little boy, and right after I did, he chased me around the site trying to get me to buy postcards.

Then a final hour long drive to site number five. This was Goa Lawah Temple. It is a small temple built at the mouth of a large cave that is the home of a million fruit bats! There are so many bats that some of them roost around the outside edge because there is no room inside. I walked up a few steps and got right up close to these bats, and could smell the colony as a breeze blow out of the cave. Unfortunately I was told I wasn't allowed to climb those steps. So I took photos from a little ways away. Amazing to watch the bats. There were also rats feeding off food offerings that the faithful left on the ledge of the temple.

Then we had an one and half ride back to Kuta, where my hotel is. On the way back I asked Arta about a barbeque restaurant on a beach called Jimbaran that all the tours seemed to end at. So, he took me there and it turned out there are dozens of seafood restaurants right on the beach. So, he dropped me off there, and arranged for the restaurant to shuttle me back to my hotel afterwards, and I settled at a table to have another romantic dinner by myself watching the sunset (which was beautiful). At the table beside me were two women who asked if I was alone, and then invited me to sit with them. They were Sharon and her elderly mother Jill from Adelaide Australia. So, I had a great meal and a couple of people to talk to. Shuttle back to the hotel and phoned Dad to wish him a happy birthday, and then got ready for bed.