UP IN THE CLOUDS, DOWN IN THE DITCH

On a visit to Bali in 2019 we decided to take a Bali Nature one day tour. We chose the ‘The

Eternal Pathway to East Bali’ and it certainly lived up to its name. It was escorted by Desi, a

guide who I’d met on the first day and we were surprised to find that we were the only ones

to take the trip other than her and her driver Nengah.

This is a day that I think I’ll remember for the rest of my life. It started at the hotel where

Deb and I were dressed up in traditional Balinese Temple costumes prior to commencing

the tour. This was necessary in order for us to enter the sacred Hindu temple on Mount

Seraya, our first major stop. On the way we came across a family of monkeys who were very

grateful for a feed of peanuts that our driver, Nengah was able to provide.

The spectacular coastal road of eastern Bali is an adventure in its own right with tall

mountains on one side and stunning cliffs and raw ocean views on the other. Climbing in the

cloud at Puralempuyang, the temple is situated just below Mount Seraya. The lower temple

offers a stunning view of Mount Agung through a unique split gate. Mount Agung is an

active volcano and its most recent eruption was late November 2017 causing thousands to

evacuate disrupting air travel and creating environmental damage from the ash. Because we

were dressed appropriately, we were able access the higher temple whereupon we were

invited by Desi to participate in a Hindu prayer ceremony usually performed three times a

day by the followers of the religion. A great spiritual and peaceful experience.

On the way down the mountain we were invited by Desi to check out a rice paddy. We

didn’t realise however that we were actually going to have to walk all the way down

through the rice field. The rice fields are a bit like a maze with a mix of grass and concrete

walking tracks which we had to navigate by choosing which ones would take our weight.

Which brings me to the part where I lost my footing and ended up head first in one of the

irrigation ditches. A moment earlier we had seen a dead snake. Desi pointed out that there

were probably some live ones around and with that in mind I got myself out of that drain

double quick. I ended up however with several cuts and bruises. Without any bandages to

stop the bleeding Desi resorted to mulching up some leaves from a nearby tree which did

the trick until we caught up with Nengah and the first aid kit.

A quick walk across the road to the Water Palace at Tirta Gangga took us to a lovely

peaceful spot where we were able to walk around the gardens and have a swim in one of

the pools if we so wished. I decided not to as I had already had plenty of water for one day.

Our lunch at the traditional Balinese restaurant within the complex was superb and was

further heightened by a great panoramic view of the beautiful garden.

The best thing about this tour is the fact than whenever the guide sees something

interesting along the way they will stop the car and allow you to explore that passion.

The last stop on the tour was a honey centre. There we were introduced to the black bee

which as the suggests produces black honey. I’m sure it is an acquired taste but like all good

things that don’t taste great it’s probably very good for you.

Back at our hotel room we were just freshening up for dinner when we felt a strong gust of

wind rattle the heavy doors leading into our bathroom suite. It seemed strange considering

we didn’t have the balcony door open and soon came to the realisation that we were

experiencing an earthquake. It lasted only a short time and did no damage. A quick word to

one of the staff members confirmed what we had gone through. We were later to find out

that it was a 5.4 category earthquake centred off shore near the island of Lombok.

ISTANBUL IS A TURKISH DELIGHT

A trip to Turkey was not originally on my radar but an opportunity arose and in May 2018 i found myself spending a full day in Istanbul.

The day commenced with a visit to an ancient Mosque. Unfortunately, the renowned Blue Mosque was being restored, but this was an acceptable alternative. Our next stop was Topkapi Palace. This is a large museum built in the 15th century and served as the main residence and administration headquarters for the Ottoman Sultans. Looking out over the Bosphorus Strait the views are just magnificent. A short distance from here is Hagia Sophia, a 56-metre-high former Greek Orthodox church which became a mosque and is now a museum. From here, daily prayers are broadcast across the city and we were fortunate enough to observe this ceremony close up.  Next, we walked across to the Hippodome. Now a market-place and public area the Hippodome was once used for chariot racing. And then for something completely different, we went underground and explored the famous Basilica Cistern whose location has been used for movies such as From Russia with Love and Dan Brown’s Inferno.

For lunch our tour guide took us to ‘The Pudding Club.’ Located in the vicinity of these great attractions this restaurant serves traditional Turkish fare and the locals are particularly friendly when they realise you’re from New Zealand.

Our last stop for the day was the Grand Bazaar the world’s largest and oldest covered market comprising over 60 streets. Easy to get lost there and we did!

That night we were offered the option of a dinner that included a belly dancer. We declined and instead opted to have a meal at a restaurant which offered ‘Pide’, a local delicacy in a McDonalds type setting which is popular with young people.

The restaurant was within walking distance of our hotel as were a number of other eating establishments on a street that runs parallel to the Conrad Hilton.

This proved to be a good option as there had been a lot of walking and climbing required in what was a very physically demanding day.

At the time of our Turkey trip the country was being starved of Tourism due its close proximity to Syria, Iraq and Iran and other troublesome hot spots. It has not helped that the media have given it a bad rap in recent times either. Cruise boats which made up a big part of its tourism dollar weren’t visiting Turkey either, so the locals were grateful for our custom. Many of the local products are extremely good quality but in spite of that we quickly realized that bartering is always an acceptable form of negotiation in this part of the world. Knowing this, we were able to secure some exceptional bargains.

MOUNT POPA AND THE SLEEP DEPRIVED DRIVER

MYANMAR – MARCH 2017

If you ever get a chance to visit Myanmar a flight to Bagan is well worth it. I can definitely recommend the domestic airline, Air KBZ. They run small prop planes, that are very comfortable and surprisingly enough the inflight service is as good as anywhere in the world. The airport at Bagan however is nothing to write home about, it’s basically a tin shed. However, our accommodation at Amazing Bagan Resort was far better than we had imagined. We had booked the honeymoon package which gave us entitlements that were far beyond what we expected. In the afternoon our driver took us for a tour around some of the thousands of magnificent temples, stupa’s and pagodas that grace the Bagan area. On our outing we saw the famous Shwesandaw Stupa, the Ananda Temple which is one the finest and best preserved of all the Pagan temples and the biggest of them all the Dhammayangyi Temple.

In the evening we relaxed near the pool. Over pre-dinner drinks we heard a loud humming sound around the perimeter of the property. We were also a bit concerned about the developing mist and smell that was gathering around us. We found out that this was a daily ritual that happened around dusk to ward off mosquitos. In other words, nothing to worry about.

This morning we were picked up by a different driver for our visit to Mount Popa. There are not many tar sealed roads in Bagan in fact most are just dirt tracks some more visible than thers. On the route to Mount Popa we encountered a number of villages but also came across a lot of small family groups alongside the route attempting to attract our attention. The land here is very barren, more like the African desert so it’s understandable these people will try anything to survive in this hash environment. It’s hard not to have some sympathy for their plight but if we were to have stopped to help everyone of them, we would never have got to our destination which in itself takes the best part of two hours. The sealed and pot holed road into Mount Popa was very busy the day we were there, so much so that the driver had trouble getting us close to the entrance let alone finding a half decent parking space. Mount Popa itself is spectacular but to get to the top requires a reasonable level of fitness because of the steepness of the climb. Along the way there are lots of hawkers only too willing to sell us merchandise from their stalls as well as several monkeys of all shapes and sizes also wanting to relieve us of your possessions. Only one of our group took the challenge to walk to the top. The rest of us got half way but decided that removing our shoes for the remainder of the ascent was not in our best sanitary interests.

On our way back to the Amazing Bagan Resort our driver was overcome with tiredness and started dropping off to sleep. I was sitting in the front passenger seat and offered to drive the rest of the way, but he would have none of it. The fact that he was in no fit state to drive caused us some anxiety. Fortunately, he drove very slowly which meant I was able to position myself ready to grab the steering wheel and pull on the hand brake if necessary. We got back safe and sound no thanks to him and it didn’t matter that we took twice as long to get there. It was pleasing to see that we had a different driver to take us to the cruise boat the next morning. (More about that experience in a future blog) I can’t say enough about the Amazing Bagan Resort. Apart from the fact that it was a great relief to get back there after our harrowing experience the hotel itself is quite luxurious and the staff are friendly and courteous.