Part 1: Seven Hours in ORD
Part 2: Cathay Pacific – First Class (CLE > ORD > HKG)
Part 3: Cathay Pacific – Business Class (HKG > BKK)
Part 4: Suvarnabhumi Airport Hotel and Bangkok Airways Economy (BKK > USM)
Part 5: Conrad Koh Samui
Part 6: Thai Business Class (USM > BKK) & Singapore Business Class (BKK > SIN)
Part 7: Singapore & The Marina Bay Sands Casino & Hotel
Part 8: Bali: Anika Tailor & Grand Hyatt
Part 9: Bali: A Day with Wayan
We woke up early to meet Wayan. This was one of the best decisions we made. Wayan met us promptly at 8am. Our only direction was: take us to see Bali.
The day started out at a traditional Balinese dance – very, very, touristy, but worth doing once:
Traditional Balinese Dance
We were quite hungry after the dance, as we did not eat breakfast. We asked Wayan if there was a place to grab a quick bite to eat, and he pulled over to a tiny place on the side of the road, overlooking a giant rice field:
NSPfiance enjoying her coffee
View while drinking coffee
We then stopped by a traditional Balinese house/compound, where entire extended families live. It was a very interesting experience. Following the house tour, we stopped by a Temple:
Balinese Temple
Balinese Temple
You had to wear a sarong to be allowed in
The grass is not for show, but rather allows one to pray without a prayer mat
Following the tour of the Temple, Wayan had asked us if we wanted to go to the monkey rain forest. As NSPfiance has been talking about getting a pet monkey for years, this was quickly agreed upon. This monkey-inhabited forest wasn’t just one where there were a few monkeys flying around the trees, they were…everywhere, including just chilling in the walking paths:
The Welcome Committee
There were monkeys EVERYWHERE. In fact, there were “Monkey Masters” all over the place in case any monkey decided to get aggressive. I saw that these “monkey masters” held kernels of corn, with which they could immediately garner the attention of the monkeys who would go for the kernels. I asked one of them for some kernels, and he gladly handed a few over:
My Newest Friend
At this point I handed NSPfiance some kernels, which she was hesitant to take. Why? Well, after many many years and conversations about wanting a monkey, apparently a key point was left out: NSPfiance is afraid of monkeys. After some good-natured teasing about this, NSPfiance reluctantly took the corn:
NSPfiance Faking Amusement
This was a very cool experience, and I recommend it to anyone heading to Bali. We were hungry at this point and Wayan took us to a great lunch place that overlooked another large rice field:
View at Lunch
We also asked to go to an outdoor market, but unfortunately did not find much stuff to take home. At this point it was close to 2pm. Wayan then asked us if we wanted to see a large rice field and a coffee/herb garden. The rice fields were huge and the gardens were pretty nice:
Herbs
More Herbs
There was also an interesting lesson in a Bali delicacy – Luwak Coffee:
Luwak Coffee Beans
What makes Luwak coffee both interesting and a delicacy? Well, if found in the US might be confused with a posting on Craigslist. Civit cats eat the raw coffee beans when they fall from the trees but the beans themselves are not digested, so it passes through them. Their feces is collected and the beans are extracted, cleaned and then roasted. The digestive system proccess allegedly makes the coffee taste better:
Civit Cat Feces
Did we taste it? We did. Have you had coffee ever at our house? Might you have tasted it?
It was now close to 5pm, and we were going to call it a day, but Wayan had asked us if we wanted to stop at a batik store. While I had never even heard of batik – a technique to dye clothes that includes wax – NSPfiance was all for it. Sigh. After about 30 minutes there, we finally called it a day.
Wayan dropped us off at Anika Tailor around 6pm for a final fitting (10-hours for a total of $55 USD!). We gave him a good tip, as he was truly a great guide and person (we highly recommend him!!).
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