myretroperspective

Yes, I did just make a reference to the little mermaid. But how can you not sing along to that soundtrack when you're scuba diving? This post is a little rewind to Bali. Partially because I miss it and partially because it's starting to get cold here. We went to Bali with the intention to scuba dive once or twice. That was before we found out how ridiculously cheap it is! At 30 bucks a pop we were able to go a whole lot more than we anticipated!   Kind of kept expecting them to form animals or words. If you open your mouth then these tiny shrimp start to clean your mouth.   We were able to dive a ship wreck right off the coast. The USS Liberty was an american cargo ship that was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in WWII. Too expensive to haul back to the states, it was decided to beach the huge ship. Then in 1964, Mt. Agung volcano exploded, over 10,000 ft tall, killing a thousand villagers. the lava made it’s way to the beach and pushed the beached cargo ship into the ocean. ...

We rented boats to take us out for a sunrise boat ride on our last day. It was the perfect view of Agung Volcano Our second hotel that we stayed at with a full breakfast served in the alcove to the left. It was a scuba diver's paradise with full service scuba training center and just a short walk to the beach for a dive. Tanah Lot is claimed to be the work of the 15th century priest Nirartha. During his travels along the south coast he saw the rock-island's beautiful setting and rested there. Some fishermen saw him, and bought him gifts. Nirartha then spent the night on the little island. Later he spoke to the fishermen and told them to build a shrine on the rock for he felt it to be a holy place to worship the balinese sea gods. The Tanah Lot Temple was built and has been a part of balinese mythology for centuries. The temple is one of seven sea temples around the Balinese coast. Each of the sea temples were established within eyesight of the next to form a chain al...

Over a thousand years old, Besakih temple is known as the "Mother Temple of Bali". Perched on the slopes of mount agung, at 1,000 metres (3,000 feet). besakih is the biggest and holiest of all the balinese temples. Named after the dragon god believed to inhabit the mountain, it's said to be the only temple where a hindu of any caste can worship. The only original wall of the temple Lake Batur. As the mountain grows through frequent, minor or not so minor eruptions, it gradually enlarges its base at the expense of the lake, which is slowly shrinking in consequence. You can still see the lava flows that go right into the lake and the small roads that were carved out in the lava flow.

It was another full day. We started out with the driver at 11 am, after the boys had a chance to go scuba diving that morning.   Our first stop was Kurtagosa, the former royal courts of justice in the town of Klung Kun. Kertagosa was the end of the line of the law system for serious crimes at that time in Bali. Criminals facing trial were kept in a building where the ceiling held gruesome murals depicting good vs evil and what happened to sinners.   Some of the scenes depicting what might happen to the "sinners"   Good to know We met a group of boys that were hanging out inside the site. One boy was not shy about sharing his chocolate crepe with Jeremy. After finishing at the palace we walked across the street to a market, which I doubt many westerners go to. We were met with gawking locals as we searched through the bolts of traditional indonesian batik fabric. Our next stop was Goa Lawah bat cave. legend has it that the cave goes all the way to the mother temple, some 7...

We started early in the morning and rented a driver for the day to take us around. It’s a great and often cheaper way to be able to cover a lot of ground for one day. Plus they like to suggest local attractions along the way that you may not have been able to see or know about. W e stopped to have lunch over looking some rice paddies. Mixed in were fields containing different fruits. All throughout lunch we could see these ladies heading out to the field with empty baskets on their head. Within twenty minutes the baskets were full of watermelons and they were walking back to the pile to drop it off. Our next stop was to a coffee plantation. This is the pathway to the coffee shop at the back. All along the path were different chocolate and coffee plants. Most of bali's coffee is microground so it can be drank just by adding water. We were also able to see how they make luwak coffee, some of the most expensive in the world. Long story short: a palm civet (the weasel looking animal ab...