March 27: Kintimani to Sanur

Disclaimer: This day was looooong. Read this when you have 5 minutes or so...

Wakup call: 3:30am. Uh huh. 3:30am. Today started with a very quick snack, then off to the trailhead. The goal: summiting Mt. Batur by sunrise. Wiping the crust out of our eyes, we hit the trail in the dead of night. It was hard to watch the trail at first, as the stars were RIDICULOUS. I've never had such a great view of the Milky Way. Yet the footing was unsteady, and our flashlights and guides proved useful. Mt. Batur rises about 5500 feet above sea level, and we started at the lake, around 3000 feet. The Balinese consider volcanic Mt. Batur to be holy, as the most recent lava flow (2000) spared only a temple built on a hill on the south slope. The rest of the southern slope is entirely black lava flow, save just one two-acre sized piece of forest housing the temple.

It's actually quite expensive to do this hike ($30), at least by Bali standards. This includes a tiny flashlight and guides, as it is pitch dark. It also ensures that you won't be threatened by physical violence from the locals, as they monitor all the trailheads and basically shake any tourist down for their cash. Word is that they will get violent if tourists ignore their little scam on the holy mount. So we chose the path of least resistance, quickly making our way up with our lightened pockets. I definately have some work to do before our PAC NW summer, as it was a bit of a struggle. Two hours later, all the fuss about this mountain proved true. Sharing our perch with a few dozen monkeys, we watched the sun rose over Lake Batur, climbing along the edge of Mt. Agung. The colors put on a show, and the early wake-up call wasn't a wasted effort.

The next incident may also be something hard to forget. We all heard a loud CRACK, and then we saw about 20 local guides rushing down the mountain. It turns out, a guide was sitting on a ledge, and accidentily leaned backward too hard against the guard rail. By guard rail, I mean a 10 foot piece of bamboo held up by two crooked sticks. What happened next was shocking and horrifying. As we all peered over the cliff, we saw the poor guy laying lifeless on the rocks. He probably fell 15 feet before contact, falling backwards off the cliff. He then tumbled another 25 feet, lying in a position that could only mean bad things. A few minutes later, the other guides carried him up to the top. He remained lifeless--either unconscious or worse. We all sat horrified, thinking it was the latter. Actually, we were pretty sure he was a goner. It was hard to even look. Chaos ensued, as the locals were all shouting in Balinese, trying to help the guy. It became pretty clear that he still wasn't responding. I do NOT want to see someone die on vacation, nor did I feel too excited about doing CPR. At that point Ian, Koni (our GAP Group Leader),and myself entered the scene and offered our assistance. Immediately I could see the man was taking shallow breaths, yet remained unconscious. THANK GOD he was breathing. He had a faint pulse, which I took 44. Koni talked to the locals (GAP does provide great leaders), Ian gave the man smelling salts from Koni's first aid kit, and I got his legs elevated to bring up his blood pressure. Side note---for the amount of $ we pay these guides, it's sad how ill-prepared for disaster and little training in basic First Aid they have. When I asked them to elevate his legs, they literally raised his legs 100% vertical to the ground. A backpack under his feet ultimately did the trick. Around this time, he regained consciousness. He could feel all extremities, and shockingly complained of pain only in his scraped up right arm. No apparent broken bones, and not really any blood. Long story short, within 5 more minutes he was sitting up, talking, and thanking us for our help. He was a VERY lucky man. We went back and looked where he fell. Basically, his landing spot was the only piece of land below that was soil and not black volcanic rock. Also of interest, the locals put a Hindu prayer basket of bamboo and flowers (they're everywhere in Bali) on the exact spot he fell. Mt. Batur blessed us all this day.

Should have things gone worse, Koni tells us they would've carried him down the mountain. There's no helicopter rescue here. No CT scan awaiting at the ER. These are the northern villages of Bali. There may not even be western medicine in Kintimani. And even if there was a hospital, who's going to pay for it? We're told these guides take home roughly $300 US a month, and the government takes the rest of the cash we pay. Although the comparative economy of Bali is quite different than the US, in terms of material wealth the folks of northern Bali are very poor. Yet very happy, friendly people.

So back to the hike. We made our way down the trail, ultimately stopping at what we were told were the "hot springs." It turns out, the hot springs actually is a full-fledged resort, and we had 2 hours to lay by the pool, soak in the hot springs, sip juice drinks, and get $5 massages. We partook in all. As this is rainy season and the tourists are limited, we had the place to ourselves. Quite nice.

Back to the hotel, and another nice surprise. The Lake View Hotel lunch buffet was fan-flippin'-tastic.
Menu: Pumpkin soup, nasi goreng, mie goreng, fried mashed potatoes, fried fish, Balinese Onion Rings, various satays, black rice pudding, and fresh fruit. All topped with my new favorite exotic condiment: Balinese Sauce.
Dessert: Banana Pancakes, Fried Bananas, and Balinese Cake. FINALLY--a cake I love. It was a pink soft-breading, rolled up like a Little Debbie cake. Inside--coconut mixed with palm sugar. YUM.

We piled into the bus, off to our next stop: Besakih Temple. This is regarded as the most important temple in Bali, and it delivered a great experience. About 3 miles before arrival, our bus came to a standstill. We discovered we were behind a parade of people, hundreds strong. They were all dressed in white, marching up the road toward the temple. Some were carrying ornate yellow, white, or red umbrellas. Some were carrying offerings on bamboo altars over their shoulders (two people in front, two in back). It took us another hour to get to the temple parking lot, following the procession the whole way. Karen, Marvelynn, Terri, and myself decided to enter the fray, after our tour leader warned us to prepare for chaos. He wanted none of it, and the other 8 stayed back as well.

After paying our 10,000 rupiah ($1) to enter the temple, the continuous scamming began. I'll start by saying that rarely did we go 30 seconds (for the next hour) without someone trying to sell us a sarong (to cover our legs even though we had long pants on), or say, "You can't go here!!!" After walking another 50 yards toward the temple, some men at a desk stopped us and said we had to pay, "Uhmm, hmmmm, 3 Euros each." When we showed them the tickets we just bought, they responded, "Oh no; that was only for insurance." INSURANCE FOR WHAT?!?! This is when Terri and I just turned around and walked off. It worked. They didn't stop us. We still had 300 more yards to get to the temple. This was repeatedly met with people approaching us, saying we weren't allowed unless we hired them as guides. We continued to ignore, apparently angering many. Prior to entering the temple, four policemen then stopped us. They demanded we buy sarongs or hire guides. We argued back and forth, as HELLO--we're wearing pants! Finally we'd had enough again. This was the ultimate test. If you can walk away from village police, then you know the whole place is working as a collective unit against the tourists. Again, we gambled correctly. We were yelled at by many, but no one ever physically touched us. Even the police.

We watched the blessing ceremony, which was fascinating. They placed offerings at the base of a very steep temple. The offerings included a large pile of fruits, coconuts, incense, flowers, and the head and skin of a recently killed goat. Terri saw them sacrifice a duck and a chicken on the spot, placing them onto the pile. After the hundreds of locals prayed, a chosen few carried the remaining altars and offerings up to the top temple. The procession of colorful outfits, altars, and umbrellas was a sight to behold. Photos should be good. We did not DARE go up there either. Many locals made it very clear to us to not even step foot on those steps. I didn't care to take it any further, thankful to get a glimpse such interesting culture.

Back on the bus, we stopped at another temple, then back to Sanur. Sadly, we are at the end of our GAP trip. Back at the Retro Restaurant, we had some final Arak Attacks (my new favorite Balinese rum drink) and some delish eats. Beef rendang for me, that tasty beef marinated in coconut milk and Balinese chilis. Good Lord it's tasty. We said our good-byes to the group, hopeful our paths will cross again. I love GAP trips, as a collection of 12 strangers from 5 countries always seem to end up with some long-distance friends. We were lucky to travel with great people again.

My head hit the pillow at 10 PM tonight. Terri says I was out in less than 15 seconds. G'night.