The following day we didn’t waste any time, opting to take a day tour of Bali. Next to our hotel sat a group of listless Indonesians who are more than happy to offer their vehicles and knowledge of the land. We agreed on a price and destinations with Michael, a friendly Balinese man with an adorable smile and infectious laugh.
Our first stop was an educational one, at a manufacturing center of the famous Kopi Luwak, the most expensive coffee in the world. Kilo per kilo, it is more than expensive than gold. At the center we were taught how the luwak- civet cat, seeks out only the finest berries to eat. Once digested and pooped out, the kaki, which consists solely of the quality eaten berries, is ground, then roasted into a variety up of coffee blends, Turkish style.
At the center there were two mongoose there in cages, which allegedly were only there to show visitors what they look like before returning them to the wild after one week. We didn’t believe that though. We think that these are the mongooses (mongeese???) who are producing the kaki. If they are caged and not free to roam the wild, it means they are fed berries by the staff, thus restricting from seeking their own food, nullify the entire concept of producing coffee from the kaki of the freshest and ripest berries. Read more about this here.
After the poop beans are picked, they are ground.
The beans are then sifted for any left over shells.
And finally they are roasted.
*If someone has seen the movie Bucket List, this is the coffee that Jack Nicholson drinks.* Click here to see the streaming version or just enjoy the last part.
At the end of the tour, we were given 13 different coffees and teas to try, all apparently from the poopoo beans.
We also had a nice photo session with their background. *Fun fact Bali is one of the most instagramable places in the world.*
The next stop was Ubud Monkey Forest. It was a fitting name for a forest filled with hundreds of monkeys. We spent an hour walking through the paths, watching the monkeys eat, play, and occasionally interact with the guests.
Once we arrived at the rice paddies, we began to see why Bali was in the top instagramable places. Yes, there are man-made swings, zip-lines, and fake frames to stand under, but none of them are necessary. All of them are tourist traps anyway, outrageous amounts of money just for the picture. The landscape is beautiful by itself.
There was a waterfall we had scheduled to go to also, but standstill traffic sucked the energy out of us. We had enough time to go, but we had already sat in traffic over three hours and couldn’t stand another minute of it. Besides, we had the pool at the hotel that needed our attention.
THE NEXT DAY CHRISTMAS EVE
We took the day off and relaxed by the pool for Christmas Eve and planned the upcoming days on Lembongan Island and Nusa Penida.
CHRISTMAS DAY
Christmas Day! We woke up early and rushed to the Christmas tree, but much to our chagrin, no presents awaited us, yet again. We ordered a Gotek to the port, negotiated a price to the ferry, and made our way to Lembongan, a small island off the east coast of Bali. Earlier in the week, we had been in contact with a scuba diving company who had told us quite clearly there would be manta rays to dive with. We were told the only reason there might not be rays was if the weather did not permit. We have plans to get our scuba certificates and contemplated taking the three day course in Lembongan for $400 a person. Only due to Ben’s infection did we decided against signing up. They say some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers. For two weeks we had been hoping that his ear would heal so we could see these enormous close up. However, once we got to Lembongan, we were informed that there were literally no manta rays present for weeks. We had been lied to, and almost taken for over $800 bucks. God truly works in mysterious ways. The truth was that the Chinese tourists had been hanging off the side of their tour boats in snorkels and scratching up the backs of the mantas, so the mantas relocated to safer waters. Who can blame them?
We had come to the conclusion that nearly every person we encounter is trying to scam us in one way or another. Whether it is the hotel, a driver, or a tour company. Everyone is trying to get inside of wallets and make off without whatever amount they can. We do our due diligence and tend to the know prices before we go somewhere. Even when we took the ferry to Lembongan, we are well aware there is a local price, and the white man price. The sign says the ferry is 300 Rupiah, the salesman says 200 Rupiah, meanwhile we saw the locals paying 100 rupiah. We eventually bargained down to 125 rupiah, but only if we promised not to tell the other tourists. The whole thing is a sham.
The ferry landed in Mushroom Bay in Lembongan. We had to wade through waist high water to get to the shore carrying our luggage. To say it felt like storming the beaches of Normandy on D-Day would not be a far stretch.
Without a hotel booked, we went off in search of a respectable place to lay out heads down. Most places didn’t have WiFi, so we felt lucky once we found Damara Lembongan Resort, it not only had internet, but a really nice pool also….or so we thought. 30 minutes after we checked in and deposited our bags in the room, the electricity went. Not for one minute or for one hour, but for the rest of the day. We slept in our own sweat that day and gave up on Lembongan altogether. So much promise, so much disappointment.
Next day we had our yummy breakfast and headed to Nusa Pedina, the next island over.
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