I'm a lazy blogger

Turns out I'm a very lazy blogger, so I'm pretty sure this isn't my future carieer :P

Since my last post we have been moving quite a bit. On November 8th we went to Pemuteran, in the north-west of Bali. We found a cheap homestay - Van Santri Homestay - with breakfast included and a shared kitchen, so we could make our own dinner after a whole day on the beach. We ended up staying there for ten nights, and Nico actually got tiered of getting pancakes for breakfast every day :D

In Pemuteran all activities get arranged in the hotels or at tourist information, so nobody will nag about taxis, bracelets, sarongs, fishing- or snorkeling trips on the beach or in the streets. It was such a delight to be able to just relax on the beach and say hallo to the locals without being afraid they will try to "force" you to do some activity or buy something you don't really want.

The beach in Pemuteran was really nice as well. They have this Biorock project to save the corals so they make constructions under water and plant corals there. There were bicycles, statues and lots of cool stuff full of corals. We did quite a bit snorkeling here and we finally got to see Nemo!

They also have a program to save the turtles in Pemuteran. With all the plastic in the oceans the turtles are paying a huge price. They often end up eating the plastic thinking that it's a jellyfish. The plastic then makes them sick and lots of turtles die because of it. In Pemuteran turtles come to lay their eggs. Often the fishermen are the first to see the turtles going back to the sea in the morning. Earlier the fishermen took the eggs as food, but because of this program they now get payed for the eggs when they find them. So the turtle program get the eggs and take care of them till they hatch and then for another two months so they are more likely to survive in the ocean. People can come visit them and get information and give their support so that they can continue to help the turtles. We also payed to release two turtles into the ocean. Nico decided to call them Oskar and Lotte :D It was so nice to be able to see these adorable little creatures swim into the big ocean. I really fell in love with them <3

One day when we were about to go back home some local musicians stopped us and asked if they could film us while holding a sign with "I love Pemuteran" for their music video. After talking for a while it turned out they were going out to this small sand island just outside Pemuteran beach. Earlier that day I had said to JT and Nico that it would be cool to go to that island, and when I told them that (with no thoughts of it getting me there) they asked if we wanted to come along. So we said "yes" and suddenly we were on an sand island dancing in a music video! :D
Click the link below to see the video.
Dek Unyil - Pemuteran

After the ten days in Pemuteran we decided to do something very different (for us) because Nico's birthday was coming up and we wanted to make the day special with experiences, not more stuff. So we decided to go to Nusa Dua and stay in a resort with a swimming pool and a TV (that was really important for Nico). So we left Pemuteran on November 18th and on November 20th Nico turned six and we celebrated the day in Bali Safari and Marine Park. Nico is really interested in dinosaurs, and everything that looks a bit like a dinosaur, and he's been talking about how much he wants to see the komodo dragon so we took him to a place where we knew he would get to see at least one :) He was really happy with the day there, and we ended the day with room service and cartoons on TV.

Since we were in the south of Bali and haven't really been interested in going to the more touristy places before, we decided to give it a chance and went to Canggu after three night at the resort. When we got there, my first reaction was: Man, I'm old! All the young women with huge lips and tits and so much makeup that they don't need sunscreen posing with their butts out and stomach in really made me feel old and sloppy. Even Nico noticed the posing on the beach so he wanted to take a picture of me, and he instructed me on how to stand and where to look. To my surprise the photo was pretty good, though I felt really stupid while posing.

And Nico's result:

In our opinion Canggu is more a place for young people who want to pose, surf and party, more than a place for more relaxed and lazy people like ourselves. We tried to go to Finns Beach Club to eat sushi one day, but that was really not our thing. The food was good, but soooo expensive, and there were so much people with a somewhat different lifestyle than ours.

After five days in Canggu we were so ready for something more authentic Bali, so we left for Candidasa on November 26th. And here we are now. We came here two days ago, and yesterday we went trekking in the rice fields with a local guide. The route started at a traditional village and took us into rice fields, pineapple plantations and over a bamboo bridge. He then drove us to White Sand Beach or Virgin Beach a little north from Candidasa. This beach was the reason we went to Candidasa, but we didn't know you had to drive to get there from Candidasa. In Candidasa there's no beaches. They are all ruined by hotels that's being built on the beaches on high brick walls to get shelter from the waves. So at low tide there's a thin strip of "beach" here and at high tide the water goes all the way up on the brick walls. (See pictures from this trip on Instagram).

Tomorrow we'll head to the mountains! We're going to Danau Batur, a lake right at the bottom of Mount Batur. Here there's supposed to be hot springs and lots of places to take walks and also rent bicycles to see the surrounding area. It will probably get a little colder there at night, but now that seems like a delight :)

Live life and love it <3
Lotte - the lazy "blogger" 

Visa extension time - Anturan, Lovina

October 29th we left Munduk, and for the first time we left a place with the feeling that we could have stayed there longer. If Munduk were located by the coast we would have stayed there for a loooong time. But we knew that it was time to extend our Visa so we had to move.

Since I started reading about Bali I had an idea that Lovina would be the perfect place; not too many people, peace and quiet. We decided to go to Anturan, outside of Lovina centre. The homestay - Gede Homestay - is simple, but really nice. The people here are so nice and helpful and the service is brilliant. But when we went to explore Anturan we were so disappointed. The main road, which is really busy, is the only road to go anywhere here, or you can walk for a while on the beach, but there's rivers running into the ocean that forces you to go back on the main road again (and there's no sidewalks). On the beach there are some hotels, but there are more abandoned hotels and resorts making it more like a ghost town. It makes me wonder what happened... It looks like Armageddon happened and we're the only people left in the world. After a few days trying to find something to see or do around here, we decided to just stay at the homestay and enjoy the beach right in front (from this perspective this place looks vibrant). The next day Nico started vomiting, and so we were locked in our room for three days; Nico being sick and JT also getting a fever the third day. I started getting crazy being inside all the time, so it was such a happy day when Nico felt better, and we could take a walk all the way to Lovina (it's about 3 or 4 km). Lovina centre is more alive, and we now realize that we that was the place to go (see pictures below).

Nico's stomach has been acting up a bit so we got some medicine the other day and now everybody is healthy :) 

The whole Visa extension process was more of a hassle than we thought. We have to have an Indonesian sponsor to apply for an extension, so we ended up going to the Immigration office several times just to get information and application forms, before we got the owner of the homestay to be our sponsor. We are so grateful for all his help with the application and getting transport back and forth to the Immigration office.

After handing in the filled out application, we had to wait two days before going back for picture taking and fingerprinting. And finally; today we can pick up our passports with our renewed Visa :)

But unfortunately this only last 30 more days, so that means that every month we need to spend one week extending the Visa. But life is overall pretty relaxed here, so I guess we can't complaint :) 

After over one week in Anturan, Lovina we are ready to continue our journey. Tomorrow we'll go to Pemuteran! It's about one hour drive from here and is supposed to be a nice place with good places for snorkeling :)

 Met some kids while walking on the beach. "Take my photo!" one of the kids sayd, and when I got my phone out all the kids started posing :) Nico joined them in the back.

 There's ducks, gees, chickens and, of course, dogs on the beaches here :)

Nico lost his tooth, and the tooth fairy delivers :)

Live life and love it <3

Lotte

Lipah, Ubud and now Munduk

We ended up staying in Lipah for twelve days. We enjoyed having our own kitchen and being able to eat breakfast and dinner at home.

We also liked the small village, and we used several days exploring the villages around as well. Nico really like walking, so when I asked him what he wanted to do one day he wanted to go for a walk. I was ready for a day on the beach, but we all need to use our bodies so we went with his suggestion (see post on Instagram). One day we rented a scooter and drove south until there were no more villages on the Amed coast to explore. Our conclusion after seeing all the villages along the Amed coast is that Lipah has the best beach, and offer good snorkeling - you can't go into the water without seeing fish :) - and it's quiet and nice as well.

 JT got two best friends while walking along the beach in Lean.

(More pictures from our hike on Instagram)

Lisbeth, a fellow Kundalini Yoga Teacher, was going to Ubud with a group from Norway, so we decided to leave Lipah and go to Ubud to see her. We stayed in the middle of Ubud, and I can tell you there's no peace and quiet there. There's so much traffic and noise so this is not how you might picture this very yogic place.

Lisbeth was smart enough to stay a little outside of the centre and there it was so nice and quiet among the rice fields. We went there on our second day in Ubud and Nico and I joined in on some yoga. That was exactly what I needed after busy Ubud.

The first day in Ubud we went to The Sacred Monkey Forest. Here we met another Norwegian family that was traveling the world with their daughter. Nico and Linnea hit it off and ran around taking pictures of all the monkeys.

The door knob in our room :) haha

We decided to come visit our new Norwegian friends at their hotel the next day so the kids could play in their pool. So before going to meet Lisbeth we went swimming with them, and after yoga we met up again for dinner. Our third day we met our new Norwegian friends again and went to the Ubud Market - I bought pants and a dress :) - before lunch and more swimming in their pool. The next day they left for Gili Air and we were also more than ready to leave the hyped up Ubud.

So yesterday we arrived in Munduk. It's so nice and quiet here and the nature is so beautiful. Our view is breathtaking :)

Today we went for a loooong walk among rice fields and ended up in the Gobleg, the next village. Because it was all up hill to get back home we got a hike with two scooters (and my feet are so happy we did).

This would have been such a nice picture, but the sad truth is that there's so much garbage :'(

Tomorrow we'll go walking again. This time to visit three waterfalls :)
After three nights here we'll head up to the north coast of Bali.

Live life and love it <3
Lotte

Plans are not static - they change

In the last post I wrote that we were going to Aas on the Amed coast on Saturday 5th, but right after writing that we started talking with the silver smith, Made, who's working at Topi Inn (where Nico bought his turtle necklace). He told us about his hometown Sidemen, and told us that if we ever decided to go there he would be happy to help us find a place to stay and arrange a guided tour with his nephew in the rice fields and the surrounding villages. After having a piece of cake in the cafe we decided that we would go directly to Sidemen instead of going to Aas. He then arranged transport to get to Sidemen, one and a half hour drive from Padang Bai, he got us a great room at Pondok Tepi Sungai, where we had a great view over the main river from the breakfast terrace. Here we also got the witness how the locals did their number two business - directly in the river - and then took a bath and got ready for the day. Everywhere we went we saw men and children (never women, and I don't know why) swimming in the main river or in the far end of the irrigation system for the rice fields where the water is running to join the main river. They were also cleaning their clothes here, and everyone was smiling and greeting us as we passed them. Finally we got to see the REAL Bali! In the more touristy areas we don't get to see how the locals live. All we see is their desperation to make a living. Everywhere you go someone wants to sell you something, a ride somewhere, a sarong or some sunglasses. To them it's essential as this is their income and the only way to feed their family. In Bali they have to pay to send their kids to school and if they get sick they have to pay for health care. Our friend, Made, told us about the struggle to get by here and we really got the feeling that many of the big hotels and other big businesses exploit the locals for cheap labour while they make alot of money on the tourists coming here. The owners of these big businesses are also often foreigners who don't even live in Bali. But as Made said; if you have the choice to make a little money or don't make money at all, you choose making a little, because you have a family to feed and kids to send to school.

While we were in Sidemen Made's nephew Ardi (don't know if I'm spelling it right) took us hiking in the rice fields. This was an amazing experience! They grow alot more than just rice, and they also have fields for a sacred flower that they use for the offerings (they make offerings in the small temples they have in their homes, in their local community, and sometimes in the middle of the street). Ardi told us about the different plants and fruit we met along the way and he also showed us his home, and he took us to Made's house where his wife, whose name is also Made (the name giving tells us if they are first-, second-, third- or firth-born - First: Wayan, Second: Made, Third: Nyoman, Fourth: Ketut with some local variations), has a shop where she sells silver jewelry that Made makes and sarongs that she's making in the shop. She showed me how they where made, and of course I bought one :) Nico also bought a silver shark tooth!

Since Padang Bai is one and a half hour away from Sidemen Made left to go to work around ten in the morning and came back home around midnight. His youngest daughter is eight years old and when he gets home at night she's asleep and when he wakes up she's gone to school (a normal school day is from 7am until 1pm), so he doesn't get to see her much. He works seven days a week even though it's normal here to have one day off (school is also six days a week). They don't have vacation, like we have our five weeks off every year in Norway. These wonderful people work all the time and seem to have a sense of purpose in life. I think that when life gets too easy we don't feel the purpose in what we do and we loose the joy of doing. We expect everything to be easy and when we meet a small challenge, like when we don't have money at the end of the month - because we went shopping for new clothes again, or bought a new TV or some other unnecessary things - we see this as hardship. We complain about not having enough while we use alot of money every month just to have Netflix, HBO and all the other TV stuff that I know very little about. Traveling really opens your eyes to how life really is for some people. It gives perspective, and I think that's really important to sometimes get some perspective to really appreciate the good things we have in our lives.

Before Made went to work one of the days we stayed in Sidemen, he invited us to his home. He and a friend picked us up one their scooters and drove us to their house where his wife made us coffee and gave us lots of different things to eat (potatoes, rice crackers that she had made, and some other things I don't know the name of). When she put all these good things in front of us I realized that in Norway we often say "no" or never takes anything when people put food or snacks on the table (unless it's a dinner party) . I think we're afraid to come across as greedy, so we don't take anything. I know that in other countries it's very rude not to eat what they serve, so I explained this to Nico so that he would be conscious about this difference and maybe take this knowledge with him on his journey on this Earth. I actually feel that we (in Norway) have the wrong view on this. If someone makes food or take the time to prepare something because you're coming to their house, I think it's inconsiderable  to say no. Whenever someone serves me something, in Norway or any other place, I will do my best to eat it (unless I really think it will make me sick or something) :)

After three days in Sidemen Made helped us again to arrange transport to Amed and a place to stay. The same driver, Adi, that brought us to Sidemen picked us up Tuesday 8th and took us to Amed.

Amed is actually just one street and because there are other smaller villages further south there's alot of traffic and no sidewalk. On the beach there's many cafes, bars and restaurants, but to get there you have to walk on the black sand beach or walk on the main road and walk between houses or through the restaurant to get there. I got so stressed out from all the scooters passing by that I found it very hard to enjoy Amed. The day after we got there we walked to the next village, Jemeluk, and relaxed at Blue Earth Village (a restaurant and free diver school and yoga studio) before Nico and I got a 30 minute massage. After that we took a bath before walking along the beach back to our guesthouse at the far end of Amed. The next day we decided to get transport to check out Lipah, another village further south, hoping this place would be less noisy and filled with scooters and cars. It was and we decided to find a place to stay. We booked five nights at Double One Villas II, where there's private kitchen so we can start making our own food - even though it's cheap to eat out here, it's not that cheap when all your meals are at restaurants, and we also find it kind of stressful to always have to leave our home every time we need to eat. We came to Lipah Friday 11th, and so far we like it here. JT had a fever yesterday so we haven't really done that much here yet, but today he's feeling better so we have been to the beach all day snorkelling and relaxing in the shade. If we like it here we might just stay here for a while :)

Here's some pictures from Sidemen, Amed, Jemeluk and Lipah:

SIDEMEN:

 The view from our window <3

Our sweet little bungalow :)

 Made making a sarong.

Our great tour guide - Ardi (17 years old)

 Visiting Made and Made :)

AMED:

Sunset - Volcano  

 A big ceremony in Amed - right outside where we lived

Breakfast included - ON THE BEACH :)

JEMELUK:

Relaxing at Blue Earth Village :)

LIPAH:

 Nico bought his own sarong

 Superhero Nico

 Life is chill on the beach :)

 

 Our view <3

Live life and love it <3
Lotte