Our trip to Bali was everything I wanted it to be....relaxing. Well, it probably wouldn't have been considered relaxing by most people's definition but for us it was. It was both relaxing during the vacation and prior to leaving. We bought our tickets 3 months beforehand, found a place to take SCUBA classes, booked a dolphin adventure, and booked a few hotels. That was it. Now, last year's Let's-See-Everything-There-Is-To-See-In-Southeast-Asia trip was fun, but a lot of planning. As much as I'd like to be one of those people who just flies by the seat of their pants for trips, I'm not. I don't like not knowing where we'll be spending the night, or how we're going to get to a new location. That just seems like a stressful trip. Everytime we say, "Oh, we'll just book a hotel when we get there," things don't turn out all that great. Things don't just magically fall into place.
Where was I going with this....oh, yes... it was relaxing. After a tough semester of masters classes, teaching, and administrative duties at school, I was ready for a break! Unfortunately, Zach and I just happened to get sick before leaving. Unlike the Taiwanese, I pride myself in not going to the doctor for every little cough or runny nose. However, the day before we left, I caved. I had been suffering through some bronchitis for over a week, and I was fed up with it. I left the doctor's office with probably 60 pills and a little container of brown liquid. The pharmacist didn't speak any English, and I still don't really know what that liquid was. Using my limited Chinese, I figured out how often I needed to take it. I felt like that was the most important thing to remember at the time.
Ok, let's get back to Bali. We started our trip with school, SCUBA school. I was so used to studying and taking graduate level tests that studying for SCUBA stuff wasn't that bad. Plus, I really didn't plan on going diving at all. The night before we had our first class, I was determined NOT to go. It wasn't until the morning that I felt I should just "watch" Zach take the course. Once we got there, I was too shy to tell them that I was just going to observe, and suddenly I found myself in the middle of a SSI Open Water Course. Once we got to the pool session, I thought I'd give it a whirl. Immediately my mind was screaming, "GET ME OUT OF HERE!" It wasn't fun, and I just wanted to be done. By the end of the session, I had gotten some self-confidence and thought, "Well, maybe I'll come back tomorrow."
Well, tomorrow came and yet again, I found myself screaming inside my head to leave. This time, however, we were in the ocean and the water tasted much worse than the pool. I had gone down a meter when I started freaking out. Even though we really couldn't understand our Dive Master in the classroom, he did a really great job at calming me down while under the water.
The next day we had our last 2 dives at Tulumben, an old WWII shipwreck. Besides having difficulty equalizing, I began to love the dive. And what did Zach think about diving this entire time? He was perfectly fine. Yeah, it took him a little while to get used to the pressure on the ears and how to "float", but his mind never screamed at his body to run away.
When we finally finished diving (it felt like a week rather than 3 days), we headed over to the east side of the island to swim with some dolphins. I felt so relieved that the diving part of our trip was over, and I could just "enjoy" the rest of the time we had. The dolphin encounter was one thing that I was really looking forward to. I was afraid that somehow either the dolphins would all run away, or they'd lose our booking and we wouldn't be able to go. I kept pretending like it was a dream, and I wouldn't actually be able to do it. So when we were actually in the water with the dolphins, it was surreal.
It was fun watching Zach's face during the whole dolphin experience. His was the face of pure delight.
Besides the awesome experiences in the water, the best thing about Bali was the FOOD. Most meals we ate were between $3-$5 USD, excluding a $0.80 meal. So cheap and yet SO DELICIOUS!
One day Zach and I decided to forego the touristy trips around the island. The little tourist trap salesmen kept saying, "Oh, but this tour will take you to the most beautiful temples on Bali." I loathe going to temples. We really haven't seen that many, and I'm ok with that. All temples look the same, for the most part. I really don't think I need to see any more. Instead of a touristy tour, Zach and I rented a scooter and went exploring the middle of the island - a mountainous land with rice paddies everywhere. It was really beautiful. We just watched the farmers out in their fields. They even motioned for us to join them, but we had seen far too many Amazing Race episodes where Americans fell into the muddy fields. Funny on TV. Neither of us wanted to be those Americans.
As we wondered along the road, many people either on scooters, motorbikes, or cute little vans would stop and say hello. These people were SO friendly, and for once, they weren't asking us if we wanted a message, a taxi, a tattoo, or shrooms. It felt peaceful just being among the real people in Bali.
Even though we spent 3 days studying for our SCUBA certification, spent only 2 days "at the beach", and got up at 6:00 most mornings, it was one of the most relaxing trips we've gone on together.
Where was I going with this....oh, yes... it was relaxing. After a tough semester of masters classes, teaching, and administrative duties at school, I was ready for a break! Unfortunately, Zach and I just happened to get sick before leaving. Unlike the Taiwanese, I pride myself in not going to the doctor for every little cough or runny nose. However, the day before we left, I caved. I had been suffering through some bronchitis for over a week, and I was fed up with it. I left the doctor's office with probably 60 pills and a little container of brown liquid. The pharmacist didn't speak any English, and I still don't really know what that liquid was. Using my limited Chinese, I figured out how often I needed to take it. I felt like that was the most important thing to remember at the time.
Ok, let's get back to Bali. We started our trip with school, SCUBA school. I was so used to studying and taking graduate level tests that studying for SCUBA stuff wasn't that bad. Plus, I really didn't plan on going diving at all. The night before we had our first class, I was determined NOT to go. It wasn't until the morning that I felt I should just "watch" Zach take the course. Once we got there, I was too shy to tell them that I was just going to observe, and suddenly I found myself in the middle of a SSI Open Water Course. Once we got to the pool session, I thought I'd give it a whirl. Immediately my mind was screaming, "GET ME OUT OF HERE!" It wasn't fun, and I just wanted to be done. By the end of the session, I had gotten some self-confidence and thought, "Well, maybe I'll come back tomorrow."Well, tomorrow came and yet again, I found myself screaming inside my head to leave. This time, however, we were in the ocean and the water tasted much worse than the pool. I had gone down a meter when I started freaking out. Even though we really couldn't understand our Dive Master in the classroom, he did a really great job at calming me down while under the water.
When we finally finished diving (it felt like a week rather than 3 days), we headed over to the east side of the island to swim with some dolphins. I felt so relieved that the diving part of our trip was over, and I could just "enjoy" the rest of the time we had. The dolphin encounter was one thing that I was really looking forward to. I was afraid that somehow either the dolphins would all run away, or they'd lose our booking and we wouldn't be able to go. I kept pretending like it was a dream, and I wouldn't actually be able to do it. So when we were actually in the water with the dolphins, it was surreal. It was fun watching Zach's face during the whole dolphin experience. His was the face of pure delight.
Besides the awesome experiences in the water, the best thing about Bali was the FOOD. Most meals we ate were between $3-$5 USD, excluding a $0.80 meal. So cheap and yet SO DELICIOUS!
One day Zach and I decided to forego the touristy trips around the island. The little tourist trap salesmen kept saying, "Oh, but this tour will take you to the most beautiful temples on Bali." I loathe going to temples. We really haven't seen that many, and I'm ok with that. All temples look the same, for the most part. I really don't think I need to see any more. Instead of a touristy tour, Zach and I rented a scooter and went exploring the middle of the island - a mountainous land with rice paddies everywhere. It was really beautiful. We just watched the farmers out in their fields. They even motioned for us to join them, but we had seen far too many Amazing Race episodes where Americans fell into the muddy fields. Funny on TV. Neither of us wanted to be those Americans.
As we wondered along the road, many people either on scooters, motorbikes, or cute little vans would stop and say hello. These people were SO friendly, and for once, they weren't asking us if we wanted a message, a taxi, a tattoo, or shrooms. It felt peaceful just being among the real people in Bali.
Even though we spent 3 days studying for our SCUBA certification, spent only 2 days "at the beach", and got up at 6:00 most mornings, it was one of the most relaxing trips we've gone on together. 