Goodbye Bali
Hong Kong,China
On our penultimate day in Bali (don't you love that word?) we had the tour company take us all the way to the mountainous area in the north. Here, even the small villages became scarce as we drove through forests, near lakes and past heavily terraced rice fields. We took a short walk along a rice field to look at the irrigation method. The fields must we wet for several weeks after new rice has been planted and dry for certain periods during the life cycle of the rice.
Naturally, we stopped off to see certain temples. It seems to be the custom for people to show-off exotic animals on the temple grounds so you can have your picture taken cuddling a python, mongoose or a fruit bat. (We skipped that experience but I have to say that the bats and mongoose - or is it mongeese> - were much cuter than I had imagined.)
On the last day, we made a mad dash back to certain crafts shops for some last minute bargaining (at which Mel was very good and I was terrible) for gifts. I probably ought to have tossed out everything in our suitcases and just brought back "stuff." The prices are so fantastic in Bali right now.
We have good friends who lived in Oman for a couple of years. They always used to say, "visit the hard places while you are young." By hard places, they meant poverty-stricken countries, where the roads are poorly paved (if at all), the power, toilets and water don't always work, where garbage is handled by throwing it in the street, in piles or burning; countries where you don't speak the language and are unlikely to learn it easily, where there are few recognizable signs, where the foods are not familiar and you cannot ask what this thing on your plate is. On the one hand, I would place Bali in that category. On the other hand, it is a country of tremendous beauty and I have never met such a uniformly friendly and open people in my life. I'd go back in a heartbeat.
So, here we are in Hong Kong, about to sightsee with Glen and Sylvia Shive. Glen was formerly at GSU. Our hotel room is slightly smaller than the campers so I am glad we had that experience and were prepared.
Heading for home on Wednesday. Will be there just after midnight.
On our penultimate day in Bali (don't you love that word?) we had the tour company take us all the way to the mountainous area in the north. Here, even the small villages became scarce as we drove through forests, near lakes and past heavily terraced rice fields. We took a short walk along a rice field to look at the irrigation method. The fields must we wet for several weeks after new rice has been planted and dry for certain periods during the life cycle of the rice.
Naturally, we stopped off to see certain temples. It seems to be the custom for people to show-off exotic animals on the temple grounds so you can have your picture taken cuddling a python, mongoose or a fruit bat. (We skipped that experience but I have to say that the bats and mongoose - or is it mongeese> - were much cuter than I had imagined.)
On the last day, we made a mad dash back to certain crafts shops for some last minute bargaining (at which Mel was very good and I was terrible) for gifts. I probably ought to have tossed out everything in our suitcases and just brought back "stuff." The prices are so fantastic in Bali right now.
We have good friends who lived in Oman for a couple of years. They always used to say, "visit the hard places while you are young." By hard places, they meant poverty-stricken countries, where the roads are poorly paved (if at all), the power, toilets and water don't always work, where garbage is handled by throwing it in the street, in piles or burning; countries where you don't speak the language and are unlikely to learn it easily, where there are few recognizable signs, where the foods are not familiar and you cannot ask what this thing on your plate is. On the one hand, I would place Bali in that category. On the other hand, it is a country of tremendous beauty and I have never met such a uniformly friendly and open people in my life. I'd go back in a heartbeat.
So, here we are in Hong Kong, about to sightsee with Glen and Sylvia Shive. Glen was formerly at GSU. Our hotel room is slightly smaller than the campers so I am glad we had that experience and were prepared.
Heading for home on Wednesday. Will be there just after midnight.
posted by Mel and Janet Muchnik | 8:12 PM
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