Mother and Son Make The World Their Classroom for a School Year: February 6, 2015 (Ubud, Bali, Indonesia)

Waking up at the crack of dawn lately, literally at 5 a.m. But, it has given me a chance to complete my blog and have some time to get organized for our day before Sam wakes up. Today we ate a big breakfast not knowing when our next meal was coming and today was our “adventure day”. We began with white water rafting and to my surprise there really was white water. It makes me laugh when I think how different everything is outside the USA. We have so many regulations that are meant to keep us safe and when you come to a place like Bali, you have to use your common sense to keep you safe, because no one else is looking after you ;) We walked down at least a km to the river, down steep steps carrying our oars and loaded 6 of us onto a raft. We were matched up with 2 Indian couples that were honeymooning. We have come across a lot of honeymooners in Bali but many Indian honeymooners especially. You can tell because the ladies still have remnants of their wedding henna all over their feet and hands. They have all been really adventurous, I might add, too. They were a lot of fun and full of oohs and aahs.

The rafting was by far the most exciting I have been on as we went over lots of rapids and a few drops. Sam was loving it and had a good time with the guide and the funny Indian fellow sitting right behind us. I am glad we didn’t fall out of the raft, being at the front and taking the drops and rocks head on, and we had no line on the outside of the raft to hold onto. There were lots of waterfalls and lush ferns and dripping vines cascading down the steep canyon walls into the river. It was so green and beautiful and the water was perfect temperature. Lots of water fights with the many other boats on the river. A brief stop along the river too to grab a drink by some entrepreneurial women that some how got down into the canyon coolers of drinks. None of us have any money but they write a receipt to our guide and then we pay the guide who then pays the lady the next day or that afternoon when they run the river again. After 2 hours on the river we came out and then there are women there that deflate the rafts and carry them back up the steep canyon path about a km on their heads!!! It is an immense amount of weight to carry and they have walking sticks that help balance themselves as they hike straight up a few hundred steps to the road. I heard they only get paid about $2 per raft they carry. I can’t think of more exhausting work, a killer workout and these are middle aged women like myself and a few old men. Holy Smokes!!!

Following rafting we hoped onto ATVs and Sam and I had our own guide and we headed out through rice fields and down through banana groves. The trails were narrow and often steep and roads uneven. It was a total workout. But the thing that hurts the most is my thumb from accelerating and my hand from clutching the very weak break for dear life as we were going down really steep and narrow paths where if you fall off the side, you could be seriously hurt. I kept thinking, how does the average Joe do this. I am used to riding motorcycles and been on 4 wheelers many times, and I was a bit freaked out and banged into a couple embankments! Sam was loving the adventure and so happy to be riding any kind of motorized vehicle. By the time we got back I was ready to take a rest and we ate some fried rice that is randomly included in the ATV ride which I believe is a way to get us to sit down and see the video which they took of us- something we did not purchase ;)

Our last stop, because we were a bit tired honestly, was at the Monkey Forest in Ubud. I have to say it far exceeded our expectations. It was a beautiful park really with stone mossy statues of dragons and monkeys and the hugest Banyan tree I have ever seen with roots that were 30 feet tall and filling a whole part of the forest. There were huge dragon sculptures with long bodies and tails that made up path railings and lots of mossy stone statues that looked so beautiful against the backdrop of the forest. We walked down to the Holy Spring Water and then towards the Cremation temple, where monkeys were scattered all about eating sweet potatoes and corn. As we entered the monkey forest there was a woman selling bananas to feed the monkeys. I let Sam be the guinea pig to see how it went and sure enough as soon as he placed that banana over his head a big monkey literally climbed up his back and onto his shoulder and snatched it. It was quite freaky really- like having a 2 year old climb up you with long nails and a whipping tail. I know this because when I held up the banana the same large monkey jumped up and was hanging off my shirt and climbed up and then after it grabbed the banana it swatted me in the face!!! Yes, I was totally freaked out and thinking thank heavens I had my rabies shot!! He jumped off me but I wasn’t game to feed him the next banana so I walked away and quickly gave it to a baby monkey before the big one knew what was up. Sam was super brave and fed the big guy a couple more times.

At the monkey temple there were like gangs of monkeys, and right as we were leaving there was a straight up “gang” fight. All of a sudden one of the got into a tussle with another monkey from another family just up the path from us and when the monkey hollered, 20 monkeys that were around us stopped whatever they were doing and screached and made a run to the aid of that monkey- it was wild! Exciting day and just recuperating before we head to see a puppet show in Ubud. Lots to see and do here, happy to be chilling out at our hotel which is outside the city for a bit.