Thailand was beautiful and we especially enjoyed hanging out with the McDonalds. We learned a lot about the people and their way of life, as well as the climate, religion and currency. In conversation with Suzanne (from Montreal) we heard that the much-talked-about “long neck” people live in Chang Mei, Thailand (more northern area). Suzanne shared her story of seeing the children, one as young as six, wearing the heavy rings around their necks. It was an emotional ordeal and Suzanne assured us that we wouldn’t have wanted to witness it. The rings will be about six inches thick and will weigh around sixty pounds. If a woman removes the rings she will die because her neck will break because it is too weak to support the weight of her head. I guess they also wear rings on their legs, below their knees.
Bali Indonesia has been an incredible experience for our family. We were able to go snorkeling and diving as a foursome although Dieter and I got seasick during our hour-long boat ride. It was pouring when we left the hotel to travel by van to the dive shop so maybe this was our signal to abort the whole event. We weren’t entirely sure what kind of operation they were running when we had to pitch in and haul our dive gear across a muddy road and down to the water. It turned out to be a small watercraft on a wavy sea but the end result was a brief snorkeling excursion for Dieter and me and some fantastic diving in two venues for Georg and Erik. There are frequently sharks in the dive locations, but we didn’t see any that day. Erik and Georg have now logged eleven dives together.
One day we went to a local market with our friends from France (Sylvie, Terry and Albert who is Dieter’s age). I’m thinking we need to redefine “local” as an hour and a half travel time by van doesn’t seem local to this gal from southern Saskatchewan (we call that a “road trip” and that means we pack a thermos of coffee and sandwiches for the outing). What an adventure the day turned out to be! We passed hundreds of furniture stores en route as well as huge warehouses with bolts of fabric that make our local fabric stores seem like small convenience stores by comparison. When we arrived at the market vendors approached us with armloads of merchandise. In fact, four individuals selling items such as sunglasses, watches, perfume, silver jewelry and carved wooden boxes pursued us for the entire one and a half hours of our visit. We pushed our way through narrow passages that weaved through a maze of crowded tiny shops and with each step we grew dizzy from the scents and sounds of the market. With little or no ventilation or light it was impossible to shop. This market was in a four or five storey building and the whole place looked like an abandoned warehouse. One floor was dedicated to spices and everywhere you looked you could see large sacs and baskets loaded with colourful, potent substances. Women and young girls sat expressionless removing husks from garlic and spooning pieces of organic stuff into small bags. We tried to take pictures but it was difficult because we were moving as people were shoving us along.
We ducked into a store that sold paintings from the local artists and I found a step to sit on while Georg negotiated on a couple of lovely pieces of art. One of our “guides” who had been pursuing us since our arrival, sensed my fatigue and fetched me food for which she later demanded payment. I ended up spending 30,000 rupiah or about $3 for a peculiar piece of fruit that resembled a furry strawberry and five large woody carrots. For this I also made a friend who was 49 years old, a mother of two children, a woman who had very little opportunity to make money for her family. Here we are millionaires. One dollar equals about 10,000 rupiah. People are very poor and work very hard. They are beautiful people with incredible stories and I wish we could speak the language so we could get to know more about them.
As we were leaving the market it started raining. No, it started pouring. The sky opened up and the river flowed down on us. Within minutes everything was a blur from the loads of water streaming down. The parking lot filled with not only water but also people. Vendors set up tables selling today’s bamboo, flowers, coconut leaves, banana leaves and fresh produce. Everywhere we turned there were barefoot people with dripping-wet clothes. Many were carrying heavy loads on their heads and shouting in loud voices. Beautiful faces of all ages….
After much difficulty our chauffeur succeeded in zig zagging his way out of the parking lot. We drove back to the hotel, observing flooding streets and nearly submerged motorcycles en route. I’m speculating that flooding is a regular occurrence due to the heavy rains and by the way, we were told this is not the rainy season.
One evening we attended play called “Tektekan” a story about the battle between good and evil. Today we witnessed a ceremony on the beach involving the same two powers. Everyone was dressed in traditional Balinese regalia, bearing offerings and chanting to the bamboo drums.
I talked with three women about the ceremony and learned that they prepare three offerings a day for “ceremony” in the temple. They spend a great deal of time collecting and preparing the offerings.
In each home and business they will have offerings as well. They carefully measure the coconut leaves and make a notch where it needs to be cut. After cutting the leaves they fold and weave them to form a small basket. They use a stapler to hold things together. Then they crumble a variety of flowers and banana leaves (which look like oregano in the end) and light an incense. The women I spoke with also told me they will do massage for $10 for an hour.
According to our chauffeur there are 2.5 million people living on this island of Bali. Seventy per cent of the population are Hindu; twenty per cent are Buddhist and five per cent are other. It seems there are altars in every room and temples on every corner. The temples are simple open-air structures with a large altar in the middle.
Many Balinese men are fishermen and wear bowl-like hats on their heads. Some are painted bright blue, others white. We observed them wading out into the water wearing long sleeves, long pants and these hats. They carried sticks, dragged nets and carried heavy loads. Some ventured out in kayak-type boats while others went out in outrigger canoes. They seemed to start their day early, returning around noon and then going out again later in the day.
Yesterday the skies were clear long enough for us to see a volcano across the water. There isn’t much tourism information here but we found a map from the car rental agency and we believe the volcano is called Batur at Mt. Batur.
We’re ready to embark on our next adventure in Australia. The weather here has been very hot and humid so we’ve noticed we are a bit lethargic lately. Note: it IS very HOT here but today we were told this is their COLD season and the HOT weather is in June, July and August. We wouldn’t survive!
Nephew Tyrus would enjoy the wildlife here. There are many geckos lurking around the corner and some much larger lizards too. After awhile they’re even kind of cute (as long as you don’t step on one or touch one). That reminds me of the time my sister Linden played a joke on me. A few years after I graduated from high school we were both at home at Mom and Dad’s. I crawled into my bed in the little back bedroom that had belonged to my brother and almost fainted when I felt a cold scaly “thing” under the covers. Linden had taken one of Mom’s extra large homemade pickles and hidden it in my bed! I guess over the years I might have provoked her with my pet salamanders so I likely deserved it, but it was quite a shock! I sort of worry about finding a lizard in the bathtub or under a pillow here, so I’m always checking just to be sure.
We’ve learned lots here and we’ve loved staying here at the Melia Benoa right on the Indonesian Ocean, and now we’re ready for Australia!
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