Mount Batur

It is 1:30 in the morning and my alarm goes off. I went to bed early as I could ~ 9:00 PM but it is sure to not be enough sleep. I’m in such a deep sleep that I am not really registering what the alarm is for. I decide to blow off whatever plan I had because I am not ready to wake up. Luckily I only press snooze (three times total). Eventually I remember that I have a driver coming for me at 2:15 to take me to Mount Batur. I am to do a sunrise hike.

I get myself ready quickly, luckily everything laid out the night before. I am outside a minute early and my van is already there. There is one other sleepy guy inside. He’s had an even earlier pickup than I. I try to sleep on the hour or so ride, eventually doing so. Awakened by the arrival at a resort where we are given tea and wait to meet our guide. It is chilly but I refuse the large jacket they offer because I have my own and I rarely get cold.

It is still pitch black when we start walking up toward the summit. The guide and the much younger guy start ahead and it becomes apparent there is no way I can continue at the pace they are going. It is 5 minutes in and I am exhausted. They put me in the front to set the pace and I trek up for a little more and realize even though my stomach has almost fully recovered from my recent sickness, my body has not. I have an embarrassing lack of stamina. Eventually I tell the guide I am going back to the parking lot because I don’t want to ruin the morning for the other guy. The guide tells me if walk another 15 minutes there is a motorbike I can hire to take me the majority of the way. It is an embarrassing option but at least I don’t lose out on the entire sunrise experience.

I put on the helmet provided and then wrap my arms around him to hang on for my dear life. It is a 30 minute scary and bumpy ride in the dark, maneuvering around hikers. As scary as the ride is, I know I have made the correct choice. Today would not have worked out the way I wanted it to. On a good day I do well with self-paced or at least a companion who can deal with my pace (I always say I am slow but I will get there) but today there was no way I am getting to the top with those legs and body and definitely not with the defeatist attitude of feeling like holding up a healthy 20 something on their journey. This is another reminder I can never do group hikes. It is never a pleasant activity for me.

We stop along the way for a picture. It is still sort of dark out but you can make out the lake and the mountain in the distance.

My bike drops me off on the last point that bikes can go and from there I have to hike the rest. This is supposed to be the most challenging portion but short. There is a guide helping me and a couple other “bike people”. They keep telling me its ten minutes to the top. I NEVER believe the timing in foreign countries because it is almost never representative of the time it would take ME. I assume it could take me up to thirty minutes to climb and I am ok with that but I am being chaperoned and constantly asked if I am ok and hands given to me to help. Please let me take the journey at my pace, alone. I actually feel better climbing this portion because even though I am weak, this is the part of climbing that always gives me a bit of a rush: uneven rocky surfaces with a bit of scrambling. If I wasn’t annoyed by the constant attention I might actually like this part. My original guide catches up with me with the other guy and I join them again. We are going to the summit and the guide is going to cook us an egg in volcanic steam while we wait. There is another “just another 5 minutes to the top”, all lies of course. At the top I am warm from the hike up but it is noticeably cool. I am still wearing my short sleeves because I love the feeling. We still have an hour to wait for sunrise. I eventually put all my layers on too because it gets windy and we are just standing still at this point. We eat breakfast and it is becoming obvious that the previously clear morning is now very overcast with strong winds. We remain hopeful but as sunrise comes and passes we have no view of the mountain. A thick fog covers the sky. So disappointing, but it would be even more disappointing if I actually hiked the entire way.

The last part of the climb during the daytime

Fog moves in and there is no longer a view of the mountain

Our guide shows us the volcanic steam area and shortly after we start back down. As we drop in altitude the view becomes clearer and we actually get some good shots of the mountain.

Nothing to see so we start hiking back down

I meet back with my motorcycle because I decide a round-trip is a good idea. It is still a scary ride down but I also see people slipping and sliding on the trails as we pass them. Maybe I am smarter than I think.

I’m back quick so I rest in the car waiting for the tour guide and the other guy. Eventually they make it back and we head off to visit a coffee farm. The coffee farms are much smaller here. The talk about the Luwak coffee that I have heard mentioned before. Luwak coffee is a rare coffee that is made with beans that are from the poop of the Luwak (or a civet). Civets only eat the best coffee berries and then subsequently poop out the beans whole. They are cleaned up and roasted into an expensive coffee. They didn’t have the coffee to sample but they did have some to buy so I bought some to take home along with another tea and coffee. After my visit I read about the conditions that the Luwak are kept in and I am not happy. When the guide told me about the coffee though he told me that the beans here are collected from the wild so perhaps not all farms use terrible practices for harvesting this rare coffee? After our tour we are able to try a good number of coffee and tea combinations. This is a nice stop on the way back.

After I go back to my hotel I clean up and rest a little and head out to lunch nearby (remember we left at 2:15 am this morning so it is still early in the day). After lunch I am done for the day. I spend the day napping and relaxing by the pool.

Back in Ubud

Due to my Lombok/Gili plans falling apart I decide to book some relaxing time in Ubud. After all, last time I was here I got pretty sick and missed out on many things so this can be a kind of do-over.

My hotel has a nice pool and my only bathing suit is looking really sad – like a hole can form at any moment bad. It is time to get a new one. I also need money and I start remembering things about Bali like how funny the ATM’s can be. It took me five until I found one that would give me money. Bali gonna Bali. I also forgot or blocked out the taxi guys. You get asked if you need a taxi once a minute while you walk around Ubud, no exaggeration, and it is not just the guys who see you walk by and show the sign and say “taxi”, it is the person out of nowhere whispering taxi in your ear, it is the person yelling at you from down the street “Hey lady taxi”. It is a unique experience that you just tune out eventually.

Swimsuit and clothes shopping in general as an “American” sized woman is depressing. All the bathing suits look like they are sized for children. I finally find one promising place with a bottom that fits and is conservative enough but the top, being XL, only covers 20% of my bust. I am defeated so I give up. Hopefully my suit has another week in it. I see other larger ladies here. Why is there no shopping available for them?

Every time I eat Indonesian food lately I have bad luck so I play it safe and visit a cute Italian restaurant. Finally my appetite seems to be back. I even try a glass of wine.

I also got to visit one of my favorite restaurants in Ubud, Watercress Cafe. Last time I was in town I stayed at the resort next door and the daily breakfast was at this glorious cafe. The hotel is too expensive for my taste this time around but I didn’t want to miss out on visiting this cafe.

Tomorrow I have a sunrise hike planned so trying to get to sleep early.

Scenes from the long walk back to my hotel

Bali hates me

I’ve come to the conclusion that Bali hates me. This is the second time I am in Bali and the second time I am very sick. I guess I could have been more careful but I think I am pretty careful. I blame the lunch we had on our snorkeling outing because the other two girls who ate there with me are sick as well, just not as bad as I. Not even mentioning the soreness and bruises from surfing, I haven’t really been able to leave bed except for a brief period yesterday where I thought I had the energy to surf (false Imodium hope). I tried surfing out there for max 20 minutes but did catch one wave so the whole week wasn’t a total waste. They caught my success on video at least. I feel really bad because everyone at the retreat knows I’ve been sick and keep asking if I am feeling better and my answer every time is no. Another few days wasted in Bali once again due to illness.

Surf pictures

Some things I tried to eat the last couple days of my retreat.

I’ve been pretty sick and and I am tired of it. I canceled my plans for my upcoming silent retreat and booked a western style hotel for a couple days in Seminyak. If I still feel this bad the last thing I want to do is be at a place without air conditioning, far from doctors, and far from other comforts and conveniences.

I check into my new hotel in Seminyak and I can already tell I made a wise decision. My room is nice and comfortable. I settle in with my ginger tea and fall to sleep early. I mean to get a light dinner and medicine but it is not happening tonight.

I wake up and go to an impressive breakfast spread. I can only eat plain white bread today though. I am hoping to try more tomorrow.

Impressive breakfast selection vs what I actually can eat

After breakfast I go to the nearby pharmacy and FINALLY pick up antibiotics. They also talk me into probiotics and vitamins. I am sure I’ll regret these purchases later but for now I’ll buy anything they give me. Note: the probiotics were actually teen vitamins. So basically they talked me into two different types of bulky vitamins I didn’t really need and no probiotics.

Antibiotics, yes I know they resemble something else

I can tell within a few hours the antibiotics are helping. I should have done this days ago.

I finally have the energy to do something other than watch videos on my phone or movies on the tv. I decide to try to resuscitate my bathing suit. I could never quite get it clean while I was at the retreat and it never dried out in time before I had to use it again so it had caked on days of ocean, sweat, and mold. I am soaking it in my hotel in soap and hopeful it can be saved. I despise swimsuit shopping and I would at least wait to do so until I have a long time in Ubud.

While I feel a little better I can mention some more details about the hotel. It is fancy. There is a large amount of security around and they check our bags through X-ray every time I try to return. I did not think Seminyak is an unsafe place to be but if it is, I’m probably in the safest hotel.

During the next two days I slowly recover and every morning I add new food choices to my diet and one afternoon try to have a hamburger and cocktail by the inviting pool. Hamburger is a success but I can’t finish the cocktail. But it is progress.

I dress up and sit on a bean bag chair at my hotel to watch the fire show at the hotel courtyard. It is amazing the control they have over the fire.

I never make it to the beach but I have accomplished what my number one goal is – to get better. I am feeling much better before I head out to Ubud for ten days. I am hoping it is smooth sailing since I got my illness out of the way (spoiler alert: I get sick again).

Snorkeling at Nusa Penida

My retreat package doesn’t include any weekend activities so I do a snorkeling excursion to Nusa Penida with a couple other girls from the retreat.

We have to be up at 6 am for our car ride to the ferry but I wake at 3 am for no reason. I lie in bed for about an hour trying to sleep then eventually turn the lights on to catch up on some research. After about fifteen minutes I start hearing buzzing from a very large flying bug. It is annoying but really likes the light. I’ve got the mosquito canopy so I am sort of safe for now. I soon hear more buzzing. It is almost like a bunch of eggs have hatched many of these things in my room. I count 6 during one count. It is time for me to get ready and they are everywhere: One on my backpack, One one the shirt I want to wear. They are scary looking and I have no idea if they bite or sting. I open my door hoping they will fly out with no luck. I eventually manage to get all I need for today. I lock my room and decide to deal with it when I get back. Fortunately when I return that night only one is left and he just hangs out at the light so I leave him alone.

Our driver picks us up and takes us to the ferry that will take us to the island of Nusa Penida, where we be snorkeling today. The traffic is terrible trying to get to the ferry. Our driver is going to be with us all day. He parks his car and directs us to the ferry. I am glad he is there because all the ferries look alike to me and I would never know which one to get on. Our guide sits in the back of the ferry but us three girls pick out a row. I grab the window seat so I can have the breeze but offer it to the girl in our group that gets sea sick. She refuses but I know her pain. I have taken my medicine so I should be ok for the ride no matter where I sit. Traveling out for a day at Nusa Penida is a crapshoot this time of year. It is the rainy season so the waters can be uncomfortably choppy if the weather is bad. Fortunately rain isn’t expected until later today so we seem safe.

The ferry ride is about an hour. We can not only see Nusa Penida in the distance but we also see a mountain. We try to determine which mountain it is. We get to the island and the boat backs up to the shore. We are not getting off at a pier; the way off is through the back and into the water. Because I am short and clumsy I have a slight fall exiting the boat and end up getting wet in the lower half of my body. One can stay on this island overnight but thank goodness I am not trying to haul my heavy backpack off this boat. I am sure all my things would end up getting soaked.

Our guide takes us to the snorkeling shop where we try on fins and pick out our lunch choice. We are to get our other equipment on the boat. We are waiting around a long time to start, it appears they want a larger group. I use this opportunity to apply sunscreen.

Our main guide tells us he will meet us later and we go to board the boat. Luckily the group isn’t too large where the boast is overly crowded. The water is beautiful. We use the opportunity to take a few pictures before snorkeling destroys our appearance.

We have 4 stops today. The first is the furthest away Manta Bay. The guides warn us the the seas will be rough on the way there (on the boat and in the water) but the reward is that we will see a manta ray. They didn’t lie about either. I start to feel nauseous on this part of the tour even though I had my motion sickness medicine this morning. The boat is rocked around. When we enter the water to snorkel it isn’t much better. The waves cause me to swallow what seems like gallons of sea water. I am constantly emptying out my breathing tube (no I don’t know how to “blow” it all out like the professionals). There isn’t much to see at this location since the fish are scarce and the coral isn’t impressive. At some point when I am underwater I look over and a Manta Ray that’s diameter is longer than me comes swimming toward me. It is partially scary and partially amazing. He kind of looks like he is smiling at me. He glides by without touching me. I pop my head up and tell my friend to go look down right away so she gets to see it as well. Unfortunately there are no photos of this event. We get back on the boat soon after.

The second stop is probably my least favorite, Crystal Bay. The beach area looks beautiful and we see some fish but I am not impressed.

One of the girls with me notices that some of the girls on our boat that are choosing to snorkel are not able to swim. Why someone who couldn’t swim would attend this is beyond me but what happens is that they hang out in their life jackets and hold on to this raft and scream and monopolize the fish guides the entire time with their drama. They also get the best photos from the guide as evident at the end when our trip photos are sent to us all.

Our next stop, Gamat Bay, is the most impressive so far if you ignore the Manta Ray from the first stop. You can see some nice coral here that hasn’t been bleached out. The fish are plentiful. The guide gives me some bread so I have a cheat with the photo moments. I think this is my favorite of the day so far.

The tour advertised online three stops but we have four today. I am getting tired of getting in and out of the boat and the previous stop is good so I think about skipping this stop. In this stop, the Wall, we are told that we swim up to the wall and let the current take us down to view all the good stuff. I decide to go in. Again they did not lie. This is a tie with the third stop of which is best. There is plenty of coral to see as well as colorful fish, with not much physical effort. I am glad I got off the boat.

We head back to shore after this. My only complaint about this tour is the last time I snorkeled in coral areas I not only got some photos of myself but also some photos of interesting fish and coral taken by the underwater photographer. There were no such photos such as these. I would have at least liked photo proof of the manta ray because he was so dang scary and cute at the same time.

When we get to shore our guide meets us along with another gentlemen who I guess is the driver on the island since we didn’t bring a car with us. They take us to a resort for our lunch.

We are directed to a shower to use that looks kind of like a bidet hose and not very sanitary so we all decided to stay drenched in seawater. In retrospect this should have been a red flag. There is a pool nearby and one group of girls jumps in while we wait for our pre-ordered food. It takes a while. My chicken curry comes out with a plate of rice and some raw vegetables. The curry is more like a chicken soup, flavorless, but I eat it anyway. I am smart enough to not eat the raw vegetables but as you will find out later I am not sure it made much of a difference.

We get back in the car and drive for a while. We end up at the viewing area called Kelingking Beach. The beach is actually a 45 minute hike down the stairs but we are not doing that. We are here for the photo opportunity. The place is a madhouse with “models” and tour groups. If you have been following my travels for a few years you will hear me complain constantly about influencers or instagrammers and how they are totally destroying travel. Today we contributed to that just a little bit. If I was on my own I would have taken one look at the crowd and said see ya but our driver was very eager to take us to the best places to take pictures and somehow he knew how to avoid the long lines. I still didn’t like 50% of my photos because I have body image issues but I appreciate what he was trying to do. The only part I didn’t like is when he had us practically running uphill, in our sandals to get to another spot. When we had a moment to enjoy it was a great view though. We made good time because it starts storming as we are leaving. That driver deserves a tip for rushing us.

We then drive down broken road, which is a REALLY broken road, to broken beach. At that location we see the arch from earlier when we were snorkeling. We also see the Angel’s Billabong that is an interesting rock formation. We rest here for a few minutes then start heading back toward the ferry.

We have to hop back into the water to get on the ferry and it is once again very awkward for me. My bottom half gets wet because I am short and clumsy. Also we are fighting the waves while trying to step in onto a swaying ferry. The ferry takes us back to the main land of Bali and then the van back to our retreat.

Swim out to the ferry for us short people

We decide to order dinner out as a group because there is an order minimum anyway. I order a so-so pizza and mango sticky rice. Soon it is bedtime because I am exhausted from the day’s activities. I sleep well … until I don’t. I have some nightmares about high school – very bizarre.

Bali Belly Strikes Again

It is Sunday I don’t set an alarm. The only thing I have scheduled is a 9 am massage today so I do my version of sleeping in. My finger is still weird and I don’t feel the best. It seems like that pizza last night has not agreed with my stomach. It feels a little like a hangover with out the drinking. I bravely try breakfast.

I find it really hard to eat. I know I need to eat but food seems disgusting at this point. I do as well as I can then I excuse myself because I am increasingly nauseous. I walk up the stairs and realize I am not going to make it to my room. I throw up my entire breakfast all over the beautiful lawn of the retreat. Luckily there is a hose there that is used by the surfers. I try to hose away evidence of my mess but it is too much and more is coming so I warn the guys who take care of the facility, apologize and run to my room for more.

I think I have it all out of my system for now. I have no idea what I am doing for lunch but I decide to make my morning massage appointment. There can’t possibly be anything left in my stomach. As the day progresses so does my symptoms. I sleep most of the day and spend a good amount of awake time in the bathroom. I officially have Bali belly. I have had this before last time I was on the island. It is not fun but sometimes it can clear up in a day or so. There is not much I can eat so I try to wait it out.

Hopefully this is a 24 hour thing and I feel better tomorrow.

Day 2 Surf Retreat

Today’s surf lesson went much better. I had almost the whole beach to myself. It probably isn’t a great beach for experienced surfers but the waves were just the right size and the ocean bottom is sand so I am not worried about slicing my foot as all the others have done. Where the waves break is shallow so I do land on my knee and twist my ankle but nothing major to report, but ask me tomorrow.

This beach is also cleaner, missing all the trash that existed on the beach yesterday. I am not worried about stepping on a syringe; yes I saw a syringe on the beach yesterday.

I got enough rest and also proactively took pain medicine so I am not uncomfortably sore. I also feel stronger so I have more confidence. Dadi, my instructor, is very patient with me. He found me all the easy waves. I surfed but only for seconds. I did many tries of trying to get up and then falling. I don’t have the balance yet. I am happier more than ever that I scheduled a full week here, even happier that I have a weekend in between my session. After our lesson he showed me some sea turtles that were being protected nearby.

Some retreat signs that tell us the plan each day

When I arrived back at the retreat they were cleaning my room so I took the first dip in the pool. It is nice. I really want a shower but it will do as a temporary substitute. I shower and return to the common area for a very nice lunch. The satay and sauce is amazing, I am happy to have some veggies too. I haven’t been eating too many of those lately.

After lunch I take a siesta of sorts. Web surfing is ok but streaming isn’t good so I give up trying to sneak in a tv show. Soon enough it is time for Yin Yoga, the one I’ve been waiting for. It’s different from the yin yoga Ive done in the past but the concept is the same. Hold deep poses/stretches for 3-5 minutes. At kitten comes up to me at some point to head butt me into the correct form. I notice a finger is strained. I don’t remember injuring it so it must be from overuse holding onto the board today. I am hoping it will be better by tomorrow.

After yoga a group of us rush out for dinner reservations in Canggu. We run a couple errands first but realize the restaurant is further than we thought. The roads are congested with bikes and cars and there are almost zero sidewalks. It is a very scary walk to the restaurant. We are all sweating and relieved when we finally arrive at the place. Grab on the way back is definitely in order. No way we are chilling in town tonight.

I order a nice bowl of hand made noodles with chicken. It’s good and the first dinner I’ve had in two days. There are no restaurants in close walking distance to our place and I’ve been too lazy to take a car or order in so I’ve been sort of fasting in the evening. I like having dinner tonight though.

Tomorrow I head out early for a snorkeling adventure. Wish me luck that the weather is good. It really is the luck of the draw lately.