Singapore and Some more Bali

So a few things....I noticed I didn't update the blog the next day as promised and I also noticed I forgot to tell of our small adventure in Tirta Ganga, Bali, Indonesia.

First off, If anyone is visiting Bali, I highly recommend taking a few days off from the beaches (relaxing as they are) and make a trip inland to a small town called Tirta Ganga, home of the Water Palace.

Katie and I went to Tirta Ganga for 3 nights. It is situated in between 2 of Bali's volcanoes, Ganung Agung (the big one) and another smaller one...the name escapes me right now. Anyway, We stayed at a place called Kumusujaya (or some likeliness of it). It has a rather uninviting staircase to the front entrance (especially when carrying a 40+ pound backpack,) however when you reach the top of the 50 step stairs you are met with friendly smiles from the staff and an amazing view of the town and rice feilds surrounding it down below. We stayed here for $12/night CAD (prices are always quoted for both of us, not each unless otherwise stated) and it includes breakfast, of course.

I'll take this time to give a quick explanation of Bali Coffee. Bali Coffee is not bad, but its not great either. Whenever you order coffee (at least at the cheapie places) you are always left a good amount of brown/black sludge at the bottom of the cup and you have to perfect the art fo knowing when to take your last sip in order to enjoy your cup to the fullest, but end it without a mouthfull of bitter coffee dust. I have already had a few lighthearted arguments with other tourists whether or not the coffee is simply instant coffee, and an irregularly huge amount of it for the cup, or the other opinion (mine) is that the coffee is the same as westrn coffee, except that coffee filters are too expensive for the balinese, so they simply dissolve a couple of tablespoons of ground coffee beans into hot water and you, the traveller, let the coffee sit for a few minutes while the grinded beans settle at the bottom, and then it is ready for drinking....either way, coffee is better in Vietnam (and Canada).

Now back to Tirta Ganga. While at Tirta Ganga you can visit the Water Temple. The water temple is a natural spring which the ancient balinese built a temple around to honor the gods. They belived the abundant water coming up from the groun in this area is a gift from the gods providing high yeilds for their rice fields and harvests. While we we're staying at Kumusajaya our host, Dewa was a very gracious host. While speaking with him after dinner, I noticed the Palm tree (Coconut Tree) had notches taken out of it. I asked Dewa if these were for climbing, and he said, yes, of course. He then coaxed me to give it a try. I must say, the climbing is not that bad, but the height can be a little gripping once you have taken a few steps up the 'ladder' (i use that term loosely). Dewa got a kick out of my feeble attempt at climbing nowhere near the top (but high enough to hurt myself if i fell) and he quickly jumped up onto the tree and climbed it almost as fast as monkey would have. He then offered to make us special coconut pancakes in the morning with fresh cocnuts from the tree he would gather himself in the morning. After the next morning delicious pancakes we took up Dewa's offer for a tour of the rice feilds (about$6 for both of us) and he took us high into the hills where we could see rice feilds as far as the eye could gaze and he pointed out all sorts of toher fruit trees along our walk as well, sweet patatoes, banana, passion fruit, advocado, and the famous durian trees, just to name a few. The tour was well worth it, Dewa was an excellent tour guide and we have many fond memories of our stay at Kumusajaya. He explained the different farming techniques, and steps in the harvest, and basically had an answer for any question we asked related to Bali or their people.

Now that I have wrapped up Tirta Ganga and Bali in whole (I forgot to post this stuff about Tirta Ganga last time, we were there before Gili Islands)...I will now move on to SIngapore and maybe Vietnam if i have time. Happy Reading everyone....