We rarely manage to post pictures on Instagram “real time” while we’re still in a particular destination. We’re trying to be better about it so that we can benefit from any potential recommendations people shoot back to us about a spot. We posted our arrival to Bali on Instagram, impressively only a day after our arrival! So glad we did because Doug’s buddy from home, Payam, reached out to let us know that he has a good friend who is a guide in Bali; they met when Payam was in Bali 10 years ago. Boom! Payam connected Doug and Dede - a born & bred Balinese guy - and we were fixing plans with Dede before we knew it. This is exactly why we need to be better about posting on Instagram “real time”! Grateful for the power of social media, enabling us to tap into other people’s travel tips :)
Making Plans
Doug spoke with Dede on the phone yesterday to hash out the kinds of things we’d like to do while we’re in Bali, and get his input. In the first instance, Doug told him we’d like to do some snorkeling, and that we love learning about local food, beit cooking and/or eating. Dede was awesome, taking us under his wing as buddies of Payam’s and told us his ideas to ensure we’d have the experiences we were looking for in Bali.
Heading Out With Dede
We cruised out of the hotel with Dede around 12:00pm (after an amazing breakfast and school session). His car had a “JackFruit79” logo on the side. We asked him about it . . . Jack fruit is his nickname (yes he loves jack fruit!) and ‘79 is his birth year.
We headed over to nearby Padang Bai Beach to grab a quick bite to eat before hitting the water for snorkeling. At the tail end of lunch it starting pouring rain. We decided we'd wait it out before deciding if we needed to change our plans; Dede said showers rarely last more than an hour. Sure enough, within 30 minutes the rain had stopped and the skies had opened back up to blue & sunny. Original snorkeling plan was a go!
Ready to Snorkel
With Dede's help we joined up with a local company to head out for snorkeling. The boat du jour here is called a sampan. There were dozens "parked" in the water along the beach. Ours pulled up and we hopped aboard with all our snorkeling gear. Our destination was a spot only about 10-15 minutes down along the shore.
We've snorkeled with the girls only one other time. Our equipment was less than stellar off the Vietnamese island of Phu Quoc, which made for some challenges, but the girls enjoyed it nonetheless. Our snorkel gear this time was great (fins! functioning life jackets! small face masks & breathing tubes that fit the girls!), so we figured a good time was going to be had by all.
Jellyfish Bust
I (surprisingly) was the first one in the water, with Paige not far behind. As soon as Paige was head down in the water she commented nervously that there were a bunch of jellyfish. I actually hadn't noticed at first, but when I put my head back down into the water, I could see them everywhere! No exaggeration, hundreds of small jellyfish everywhere you looked. How I missed them the first time I was looking below the surface is beyond me. Presumably the jellyfish weren't dangerous, but it still made us a bit uneasy. I asked our boat guy (who spoke very little English) if the jellyfish were dangerous. He said no, but then also said a second later that they can sting a little bit. Doh!
Once you hear that the loads of jellyfish inches from your face and body can sting, game over. It spooked all of us (especially me & the girls). Enough that none of us spent more than a few minutes in the water. In defense of Balinese snorkeling, there were tons of beautiful fish down there. It's just that the darn jellyfish distracted from our ability to enjoy any of them.
The boat driver was sympathetic to our woes and took us to a different spot a few minutes away. Doug & Paige bravely jumped in. Paige boomeranged back onto the boat within seconds because she spotted more jellyfish. Doug lasted a few minutes. He said there were far less jellyfish at this site, but still lots. I think we got in his head too about them, because he was back on board within a few minutes as well.
Snorkeling Not Our Family Sport
I couldn't stop laughing at how comically disappointing the whole snorkeling excursion was. We suited up and made the trip out, only to last single digit minutes in the water!! And this, after our first time snorkeling together was also a bust. I joked to Doug that I didn't think snorkeling was going to be our family sport or hobby :)
We told the girls we'd try snorkeling again during our travels; there are many more places that have beautiful fish/coral and no distracting jellyfish to navigate around. We aren't ready to give up on snorkeling altogether, and they seemed excited to try it another time.
Balinese Salt Farm
Our next stop was to a Balinese salt farm about 15 minutes down the road. Our hotel offers many excursions, including one to a salt farm. I had googled the location of the salt farm and when I saw it was nearby, Dede said it was no problem to stop by. We were excited to see/learn how salt is made!
We pulled up alongside the road next to a homemade sign that said "Natural Salt Maker (Garam)". A woman came out of a shack and with few words, started to demonstrate to us the process for making sea salt. Her English was basic at best, so Dede helped relay the information to us. Cliff notes version is that they transport salt water from the ocean up to plateaus of the black sand beach (via pails resting from a rod behind their shoulders). They splash the salt water onto the black sand in repeated layers. That ultimately dries and forms a hardened layer, which they transfer into wooden buckets under a thatched rof. More salt water gets pour onto this to ultimately filter out a highly concentrated salt water. That concentrate is placed out in troughs to dry outdoors. One really hot day later and you have crystalized sea salt as we know it! All in the process takes ~3 days. We purchased a few bags of, excited to put them to use in Australia when we finally have access to a kitchen again!
Doug pulled together this awesome video that brings it all to life. Check it out!
Warung Early Dinner
Our final stop of the day was a warung for an early dinner. But not just any warung . . . Dede's sister's warung! When Doug spoke with Dede originally, he explained that we prefer to steer clear of big, touristy restaurants, and instead chow down where the locals eat. He replied that his family owns a warung, and that he'd be happy to take us there for a meal and to meet his family. We were 100% in!
In Indonesia a warung is a small family-owned business, typically a small restaurant or cafe. They are often (but not always) in the front of a family's home. We pulled up to Dede's sister's Warung Iga Bakar. We were introduced to many of Dede's family members, including his parents, his wife, son & baby daughter, and his sister & her children. Dede showed us his land plot across the street (and his brother's adjacent one) and explained to us how he has a profit share partnership with local farmers that do the work to plant & harvest the crops on his land and then share the profits. The area was alight with bright green rice and palm trees. Incredibly gorgeous.
We hung out for a bit with Dede and his family. His 4-month old daughter was especially a hit; the girls loved getting a chance to hold her. We noticed that she wore gold earrings, bracelets and necklace. Dede explained to us that in Balinese culture it's customary for babies to wear gold jewelry until the age of 18 months, to keep away evil spirits.
Best Meal of the Trip (Says Sadie)
The specialty at Dede's sister's warung is BBQ pork ribs, a Balinese favorite. We watched her prepare the pork ribs (boiled in tumeric, garlic & salt, then grilled over an open fire, doused in homemade BBQ-like sauce) as well as grilled eggplant. The ribs & eggplant were served with rice, tasty tempe triangles (bean curd) and a delicious homemade spicy sauce. We ordered three to share amongst the four of us.
At first bite, we were all smitten. The pork ribs were absolutely delicious!! Sadie & I are the least likely to enjoy pork ribs (Sadie generally prefers vegetables to meat, and I'm skittish when it comes to "meat on bone", not my favorite), and even we were sold. We keep a side list of our most memorable <xyz> on this trip (meal, accommodation, swimming space, etc). Doug & I looked at it each other mid-meal and agreed this meal was definitely up there! It hit the mark in terms of experience, memorability and taste. Bundled together, it's the kind of experience we relish & appreciate so much in our travels.
As we walked back to Dede's car Sadie told us that she thinks it's one of the best meals of our entire travels! We told Dede on her behalf (she was too shy to tell him herself) and it put a huge, proud grin on his face :)
Final video montage of the day :)
Comments