October 11th Day Trip Around Bali

Tanah Lot Temple

Boa constrictors at Tanah Lot

Macaw monkey

Fruit Bat

This Macaw monkey is itchy!

Mother and baby.

Blaise holds the peanut up high so the monkey will climb for it.

Monkey tugs on Blaise's leg.

Open hands tell the monkeys "'I don't have any more peanuts!''

Braeden likes having a monkey on his shoulder.

The boys were nervous about standing too close to this monkey. They thought he might jump on them!

This is early on in the visit. The boys were still a bit nervous of the monkeys. We were told not to touch the monkeys but if the monkey jumps on you you just need to crouch down and it will jump off.

A baby Macaw.

Fruit bats high in the trees.

Terry, Wayan, Blaise and Braeden at Banjar Hot Springs.

Linnea, Braeden, Blaise at Banjar Hot Springs.

Banjar Hot Springs

Terry at Banjar Hot Springs.

Stream near Banjar Hot Springs.

View of rice terraces from restaurant where we stopped for lunch.

Git Git Waterfall in the distance.

Rice growing on the path to Git Git waterfall. We saw chickens hiding in here.

Braeden and Blaise at Git Git waterfall.

Temple at Git Git waterfall.

Hydrangeas I saw growing beside the path.

I'm not sure what type of flowers these are but I thought
they were beautiful.

On Oct. 11th Wayan took us on a day trip starting from the southern part of Bali (Jimbaran Hills) all the way up the north coast of the island. Our first stop was Tanah Lot which is a temple on a rock surrounded by water on the west coast of Bali. I thought it was going to be like Mont St. Michel in France where the tide is sometimes out and you can go and explore the rock. However, when we arrived there it was surrounded by water and Wayan said that only people who are involved in ceremonies are allowed in the temple at Tanah Lot. To get to the temple we had to pass by many shops and the boys and Terry got distracted and ended up in a board shop buying shirts. I walked ahead because I was anxious to see Tanah Lot. I thought I was going to be able to go in the temple. Right near the entrance I saw two huge boa constrictors lying beside a man in a shop. For a fee you could have your picture taken with one, no thank you! I did take a picture of a tourist holding one though, brave or crazy guy! We spent some time taking pictures and looking in the shops.

Wayan asked us if we would like to go and see some monkeys and bats. This sounded like something the boys would really like. We drove a ways down the road and came to a place where you paid to go in to an area where monkeys lived. A tour guide led us around free of charge. She sold peanuts to the boys so they could feed the monkeys. The tour guide told us not to touch the monkeys and if the monkeys jumped up on us we were to crouch down until the monkey jumped off. She carried a big stick and if the monkeys started to get too aggressive she banged the stick on the ground. She kept the peanuts in her hand and gave them to the boys one at a time. The bigger male monkeys were quite aggressive and did not let the younger ones get the peanuts. At first the boys seemed a bit anxious about the monkeys climbing on them but as time went on they wanted the monkeys to jump on their shoulders.

We headed north to go the the hot springs at Banjar. Wayan stopped at a restaurant so we could have lunch. He didn't come in for lunch with us, he said he had already eaten. The restaurant was high on a hill with a gorgeous view of rice terraces. The service was poor but the food was o.k.

When we got to the hot springs Wayan joined us in the springs. Since it is already hot and warm in Bali, going into hot springs might seem like a strange place to go but we wanted to try it out anyhow. The springs are contained in three pools with waterfshooting out of many fountains so you could have a shower over your head. The springs are supposed to be a healing place. Wayan said he and his family like to visit the springs when they have time.

The next place Wayan wanted to show us was three lakes in the north central part of Bali. The lakes are called Lake Tamblingan, Lake Buyan and Lake Bratan. We drove up a windy mountain road but when we got to the top it was so foggy that we were not able to see much of the lake. It was getting late and it was rainy so we decided to head back to the villa. Wayan tried to take a short cut back through the mountains. The road was like nothing I had ever ridden on before. There wasn't really much of a road, it was more like deep ruts and small bits of pavement. Wayan said he hadn't been on this road since last year so he didn't realize how bad it was. We stopped at Git Git Waterfall on the way back. It was a fun day and we felt we saw a lot of Bali today.