9:22am Jakarta time
We are finally on our way to Bali! We have a 2 hour drive to get to the ferry and then the ferry will be about an hour. Pumped!
This morning we woke up to more rain. I was really bummed because I really wanted to be able to do the tour of the coffee plantation. The rain kinda held up and stopped for a bit so that was really nice. We did the tour anyway.
The plantation seems pretty small but maybe we only saw a small part of it. It was funny to me as well because even though we only were in one small area of the plantation, we saw so much stuff. We saw vanilla plants, pepper plants, chili plants, cacao plants, coconut trees, coffee plants, nutmeg plants, and cinnamon trees. It's actually really cool.
There are 2 types of coffee in Java. Robusta (spelling?) and Arabica. Robusta can be bought at all the stores and it grows at 400 meters. Arabica is not as easy to find because it only grows at 800 meters. I don't remember which is which but one of them is larger beans and one is smaller beans. When the coffee beans are ripe, they turn red. There are some with 2 beans inside (they call them women) and others with only 1 bean inside (they call them men). The beans grow in a rounded case and starts out green. The coffee bean plants were about the same height as me. Also Panji said that Robusta coffee is more for athletic/running type of people and that Arabica is more for yoga/reading type of people.
There is also a coffee called Civetcat coffee. This is what I mentioned earlier. There are these weird cat animals that eat only the best coffee beans and then they poop them out. While they are in their system, the beans get a really nice flavor to them. It is also more decaffenated. It comes out of the cat still as a full bean and then they are processed and cleaned. This is supposed to be a really good type of coffee bean. One of the best.
We saw them making palm sugar from the palm trees. We actually saw a man climb up the palm tree, which was extremely impressive because he did it with such ease and so quickly, and cut the flowers of the coconut to let the juice leak out of them. This is what is collected in the jugs that he then brings down and is further processed into palm sugar. I won't lie, the sap or juice or whatever it is from the flower looks like semen, consistency and all. And then, smelling it, well, I am sure I would have mistaken it for semen in another environment. Ew. We did get to try the processed palm sugar which is very nice. It is processed into short and squat cylindrical blocks. It tastes sugary but also a little bitter to me.
The chili peppers grow on a short little plant. The cinnamon sticks are actually taken from the trunk of the tree. He carved a piece out of it and let us small it. It was cinnamon alright! It was so strong, it surprised me. We saw a white coffee bean plant as well. The vanilla grows on a vine and comes off in long brown strips that you can then open up to extract the vanilla. The cacao was literally growing off a trunk on a smaller tree. It tasted a lot better than the other cacao seeds we ate in Cianjur. And, the insides of it was a lot more purple. We also got to eat cocoa beans which you have to peel the outside of the bean and then you can eat the whole inside. It's kinda like eating dark chocolate. It's very good. A little bitter though. I liked it. The nutmeg also grew on a tree. It came in a round ball that was larger but maybe about what could fit in your fist. If it is cracked open, there is a thick outer layer and then a large round seed in the middle. When it is ripe the seed turns red and it is mashed up and sold as nutmeg.
Also, I asked Panji earlier how many dialects there are in Indonesia and he said they actually don't have dialects they just have different languages. There are over 300 different languages here! How crazy is that!?! Everyone speaks Indonesian. Then, there is a language for West Java, Central Java, East Java, and Bali. Then Lumborg (sp?) speaks another language. And then there are small tribes/villages with their own language. Panji said that Indonesian is similar to Malaysian but some words are drastically different. For example, the word for child in Malay is life in Indonesian.
10:41pm Bali time
We jumped an hour ahead of Java time.
We drove through a cute little town before getting on the ferry to Bali. All the people were out doing something and the buildings were bright colors and there were many rice fields.
We drove onto the ferry in the bus, and of it in the bus. Henne seems really sick. She has a fever (100.4) and is freezing even when it's hot and her entire body aches. Jillienne thinks she may have dengue because of all the mosquito bites on her legs but we won't know for a few days until the blood results come back. For now they're just treating it like the flu. She ended up going to a doctor when we made it to Pembuteran.
Taking the ferry across from Java to Bali was nice. The water was so blue. Almost a turquoise color at some points and at other points it was a deep blue. It was beautiful. As we were leaving Java, when you looked back to the shore you could see a bunch of rain clouds. And when you looked toward Bali, it was beautiful clear blue skies.
It amazed me how close in proximity the 2 islands were. There was only a small part where there was a gap of ocean between the islands. When we got closer to Bali, we could see a tall, white Buddha statue. The hands were in the "no fear" position. The island looked so pristine and welcoming from the ferry.
As we were driving through Bali to Pemuteran, Panji told us a lot of information. Jawa (java) dewa means rice island. Bali dewa means offering island. In Bali, most of the population is Hindu and they believe in offering something to the spirits at least once a day. Also, in 2002, there was a Bali bomb because some java terrorists decided to transport a bomb in a car to Bali to hurt Australians (a bunch were here) who at the time were supporting the US in the war against Iraq at the time. Because of it, it is difficult for an Indonesian to get into Bali. Bali is about 2 times the size of Singapore, so it's a small island. From east to west it is about 140 km and from north to south it is about 90 km.
While we were driving, we drove through a national park. The West Bali National Park. It was like driving through a rain forest. Some people saw monkeys but I didn't see any. There were also really beautiful mountains in the background as well. The national park covers 90,000 acres and 3,000 of it is under water. We can go snorkeling there tomorrow.
Panji explained that there are a lot of statues at the houses in Bali. Also, a lot of dragon statues. The dragon symbolizes water, soil, and air. In Bali the people believe that there is both a physical and spiritual dimension to the world and that you need to respect both in order to live in harmony. There were indeed a number of statues and shrines in front of the houses. It's very picturesque actually.
The resort we are staying in is very nice. It's smaller and there is an Infiniti style pool. The rooms are also nice with mosquito nets over the beds and the bathroom is just amazing. It literally has an outdoor shower. There is the bathroom which is enclosed and the shower is completely open on top looking up to the sky. There are plants growing on either side of it. It's cool. The people workin here are very nice as well.
I got my debit card! Delivered to my door! A g adventures CEO actually owns this resort so it was a good place to have the card sent.
The second we dropped our bags off, Marion and Katie, as well as a few other people already had their swim suits on and were ready to hit the beach. I stayed back because I wanted to get laundry in ($5 for 2 kilos), shave, change, and eat lunch. Jillienne stayed back with me. We never ended up going to the beach. The pool was really nice though.
Apparently the beach is more black sand. I may or may not have time to check it out tomorrow, but I know there will be beaches in Sanur as well and I really just needed to chill. When everyone came back, they told us a story of how Sienne and Rob rescued 2 Indonesian kids from drowning! Crazy right. Sienne is actually a trained life guard. Robs just, Rob.
For lunch I ate Tempe with rice in sweet and sour sauce with garlic and a few other things. It was so good. I might get it again tomorrow. I'll see. We had such a late lunch that I didn't really need to eat dinner.
I've been feeling pretty down today. I feel like I'm ready to come home. I am very sick of Asia now and I think I am starting to get sick of the people in my group. I hope that Australia will be a good change and that the change in people will help as well. Dad is surprised that it took me this long to be ready to come home. I also feel like I rarely get alone time and I have really wanted that lately. It's not really a homesick feeling. It's just an I'm kinda exhausted feeling. But, I think going to a new country where the culture and food is different will gear me up again. Well see though.
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