December 14, 2005
Kirk and I are taking a layover day today in Lovina after completing our longest ride yet of almost 90K yesterday. We need it as we are both physically exhausted, but pretty impressed about how our biking has improved since arriving in Bali just 2 weeks ago. Every day we seem to be able to handle hills and distance with a little more strength and endurance. I’ve even shed the few extra pounds that my body has been hanging on to since we were at Pole. That’s a nice feeling! I’ve finally become somewhat comfortable in riding with clipless pedals and I am much better at using my gears. I never biked much before this trip so I’ve learned a lot in a short time. I’ve taken my fair share of spills though too. Kirk and I were riding up a short but quite steep hill a couple of days ago and I tried to drop my gears too quickly and plopped over on my side because I lost all of my momentum and I couldn’t get my feet out of my pedals fast enough. Live and learn! Some of the other adjustments from riding besides a couple of bruises have been the Charlie horses in our legs during the night, aching in my lower back from the riding position, sore butts, and stiff hands from gripping the handlebars for so long. It’s not too bad though as we are growing more accustomed to our new appendages (our cycles) on a daily basis. The worst part of riding is getting started everyday. Once we’re on the bikes we work the lead out of our legs after the first few kilometers and the rest of the day seems easier in comparison.
So far our routine is to get up around 6am and pack up our stuff to get ready to ride. By 7am we are eating our free breakfast that comes with most rooms here. It consists of fresh fruit, fresh blended fruit juice (watermelon and mango are our favorites), coffee or tea, toast and sometimes eggs. Then we are ready to hit the road by 8am. Some days we are graced with clouds to cover up the scorching sun, but regardless the rides are always sweltering. During our rides, we tend to stop a couple of times along the way to get snacks and cold drinks at the warungs (roadside stands). A lot of the warungs only sell warm drinks as ice is not very common here and refrigerators seem to be out of most of these people’s price range. We are pretty spoiled in that we are always looking for the warung with the cold green Fantas and have passed our fair share of the ones without refrigerators. Snobby Americans we are! But I’ll tell you what, those cold drinks go down pretty nicely when you’re sweating buckets. On several occasions Kirk and I have sucked down 2 to 3 each in a matter of a few minutes while the people running the warungs look on in shock yet they always seem pleased to have the business. We’re also fond of finding chocolate bars to refuel or peanuts, as long as they are without the garlic flavoring. Most of our rides tend to be about 3 to 4 hours and by the time we arrive at our destination we’re hot, a little cranky and ready to get out of our stinky gear. The thing I look forward to most at the end of each ride is a refreshing shower. Showers mean so much more to us especially after being deprived of them at the Pole. Some of the places we have stayed actually have warm water, which is just icing on the cake. We tend to look for places with A/C because after boiling and soaking in sticky perspiration all day, the last thing we want is to sweat through the night as well. We haven’t always found rooms with A/C and we tend to do okay without it, but again it’s one of our little treats that we prefer to indulge in.
Immediately when we check into our digs for the night we haul our bikes into the room and can’t strip off our gear fast enough to hit the shower. Next we wash our bike clothes out in the sink or tub to take care of our “laundry”. It would be pretty disgusting if we didn’t take care of this chore daily as I’m sure you can imagine. Most places must be used to this as they have drying racks outside. Because of the humidity here our clothes do not tend to dry all of the way after one night and we end up riding in wet gear the next day. It’s not always a bad thing though as it helps keep us cool for a while. If we wash other clothes as well we will hang them off of our panniers to let the wind dry them while riding. Sometimes they end up with little mud spots on them from the road, but it’s better than having them sour in our bags from being put away still damp. So it’s kind of like a long camping trip in a way, but without the tent and the stove.
Another routine of ours has been “happy hour” where we celebrate the days’ ride by drinking a cold Bintang or two while enjoying our dinner. This is about the time where the cycling makes for good conversation as most of our hosts are interested in finding out our nationality, where we cycled from, if our bikes are from America and why we are cycling around Bali. Most Balinese know at least a little English and we’ve managed to be able to communicate through body language and gestures if necessary as well as words.
It’s been really fun to come back to the same hotels that we stayed in previously both in Ubud and Lovina. All of the staff recognize us and welcome us back wanting to hear about our adventures. The Balinese seem to be impressed with a woman cycling here and they often comment on how I must be “very strong” (which was the inspiration for one of our latest photo captions). I find it amusing since I don’t think it’s really as much of a feat as people think it is. But in general the Balinese people are pretty thin and I tend to be a little meatier than most of the men here so I can see why they say that.
Another thing that Kirk and I have noticed is how some things that we thought were so great at first are starting to wear on us a little. We still think it is really remarkable how friendly the people are here, but after so many “hallos”, “good mornings”, “where you go?”, whistles, hollering in Balinese, and laughs in our direction as we ride along throughout the day, we find ourselves weary to answer after awhile and sometimes don’t answer at all. Especially to the laughter. A lot of times it feels as though we are being laughed at and not always in a friendly manner, which I suspect is the case. It would make sense that not all Balinese people love the foreigners that come here and I’m sure to them we look rather silly in our gear. For the most part the few cyclists here are either old people or children and neither of them wear cycle helmets. Their custom for men and women is to wear sarongs and to have their knees covered so I’m sure our tight cycle shorts with pads in the butt look pretty amusing. I’ve never seen any of the locals wear sunglasses so that must be an oddity as well and then there are our cycle shoes and our camel backs so all in all we must look like aliens from another planet. I can understand the laughter, but sometimes it wears on me nonetheless…mostly towards the end of a ride when I’m hot, tired and ready to be off my butt and on my feet again. One thing I never tire of is the children though because their excited waves, smiles and giggles are so innocent and inspirational.
Overall, riding is wonderful. I look forward to watching the landscape change as we ride along and eventually discover what the next destination holds for us. It’s amazing that there is so much diversity on this small island, from the cooler temperatures in the mountainous areas near Penelokan to the dry lava valley of Amed. I feel like riding has given us a pretty good sense of the island itself as well as the people. We’ve been able to observe that their pace of life is slow, they don’t have much, but they are very family oriented and seem to be happy in their simple ways of life. You always see parents interacting with their children through laughter and touch and they seem to function as a unit each knowing their role. Kirk and I are often asked if we have any children of our own. It’s obvious that children are a large part of married life here and they do not understand why we don’t have any kids when we’ve been married for 2 years. They all seem to have an entrepreneurial spirit as there are warungs in front of most farms, houses and shacks along the road. People are always looking to make money however they can. In fact I had a guy on a motorcycle pull up next to me on the road the other day while we were riding along at about 25km/hr and ask me if I needed transport. I looked at him like he was on crack and said “no thanks”. I respect that they try so hard though. Kirk and I were joking yesterday about how we need t-shirts to wear around here that say “Yes I’m a tourist, no I don’t need transport, or a sarong and I already have accommodation, thank you” in Balinese.
I will be sad to leave Bali next week, since this has been such a memorable and magical trip for us, but I know that we also have a lot to look forward to in SE Asia. So stay tuned! It’s really been fun to share this experience through a blog with everyone! Don’t you just love the internet!!
Jodi
So far our routine is to get up around 6am and pack up our stuff to get ready to ride. By 7am we are eating our free breakfast that comes with most rooms here. It consists of fresh fruit, fresh blended fruit juice (watermelon and mango are our favorites), coffee or tea, toast and sometimes eggs. Then we are ready to hit the road by 8am. Some days we are graced with clouds to cover up the scorching sun, but regardless the rides are always sweltering. During our rides, we tend to stop a couple of times along the way to get snacks and cold drinks at the warungs (roadside stands). A lot of the warungs only sell warm drinks as ice is not very common here and refrigerators seem to be out of most of these people’s price range. We are pretty spoiled in that we are always looking for the warung with the cold green Fantas and have passed our fair share of the ones without refrigerators. Snobby Americans we are! But I’ll tell you what, those cold drinks go down pretty nicely when you’re sweating buckets. On several occasions Kirk and I have sucked down 2 to 3 each in a matter of a few minutes while the people running the warungs look on in shock yet they always seem pleased to have the business. We’re also fond of finding chocolate bars to refuel or peanuts, as long as they are without the garlic flavoring. Most of our rides tend to be about 3 to 4 hours and by the time we arrive at our destination we’re hot, a little cranky and ready to get out of our stinky gear. The thing I look forward to most at the end of each ride is a refreshing shower. Showers mean so much more to us especially after being deprived of them at the Pole. Some of the places we have stayed actually have warm water, which is just icing on the cake. We tend to look for places with A/C because after boiling and soaking in sticky perspiration all day, the last thing we want is to sweat through the night as well. We haven’t always found rooms with A/C and we tend to do okay without it, but again it’s one of our little treats that we prefer to indulge in.
Immediately when we check into our digs for the night we haul our bikes into the room and can’t strip off our gear fast enough to hit the shower. Next we wash our bike clothes out in the sink or tub to take care of our “laundry”. It would be pretty disgusting if we didn’t take care of this chore daily as I’m sure you can imagine. Most places must be used to this as they have drying racks outside. Because of the humidity here our clothes do not tend to dry all of the way after one night and we end up riding in wet gear the next day. It’s not always a bad thing though as it helps keep us cool for a while. If we wash other clothes as well we will hang them off of our panniers to let the wind dry them while riding. Sometimes they end up with little mud spots on them from the road, but it’s better than having them sour in our bags from being put away still damp. So it’s kind of like a long camping trip in a way, but without the tent and the stove.
Another routine of ours has been “happy hour” where we celebrate the days’ ride by drinking a cold Bintang or two while enjoying our dinner. This is about the time where the cycling makes for good conversation as most of our hosts are interested in finding out our nationality, where we cycled from, if our bikes are from America and why we are cycling around Bali. Most Balinese know at least a little English and we’ve managed to be able to communicate through body language and gestures if necessary as well as words.
It’s been really fun to come back to the same hotels that we stayed in previously both in Ubud and Lovina. All of the staff recognize us and welcome us back wanting to hear about our adventures. The Balinese seem to be impressed with a woman cycling here and they often comment on how I must be “very strong” (which was the inspiration for one of our latest photo captions). I find it amusing since I don’t think it’s really as much of a feat as people think it is. But in general the Balinese people are pretty thin and I tend to be a little meatier than most of the men here so I can see why they say that.
Another thing that Kirk and I have noticed is how some things that we thought were so great at first are starting to wear on us a little. We still think it is really remarkable how friendly the people are here, but after so many “hallos”, “good mornings”, “where you go?”, whistles, hollering in Balinese, and laughs in our direction as we ride along throughout the day, we find ourselves weary to answer after awhile and sometimes don’t answer at all. Especially to the laughter. A lot of times it feels as though we are being laughed at and not always in a friendly manner, which I suspect is the case. It would make sense that not all Balinese people love the foreigners that come here and I’m sure to them we look rather silly in our gear. For the most part the few cyclists here are either old people or children and neither of them wear cycle helmets. Their custom for men and women is to wear sarongs and to have their knees covered so I’m sure our tight cycle shorts with pads in the butt look pretty amusing. I’ve never seen any of the locals wear sunglasses so that must be an oddity as well and then there are our cycle shoes and our camel backs so all in all we must look like aliens from another planet. I can understand the laughter, but sometimes it wears on me nonetheless…mostly towards the end of a ride when I’m hot, tired and ready to be off my butt and on my feet again. One thing I never tire of is the children though because their excited waves, smiles and giggles are so innocent and inspirational.
Overall, riding is wonderful. I look forward to watching the landscape change as we ride along and eventually discover what the next destination holds for us. It’s amazing that there is so much diversity on this small island, from the cooler temperatures in the mountainous areas near Penelokan to the dry lava valley of Amed. I feel like riding has given us a pretty good sense of the island itself as well as the people. We’ve been able to observe that their pace of life is slow, they don’t have much, but they are very family oriented and seem to be happy in their simple ways of life. You always see parents interacting with their children through laughter and touch and they seem to function as a unit each knowing their role. Kirk and I are often asked if we have any children of our own. It’s obvious that children are a large part of married life here and they do not understand why we don’t have any kids when we’ve been married for 2 years. They all seem to have an entrepreneurial spirit as there are warungs in front of most farms, houses and shacks along the road. People are always looking to make money however they can. In fact I had a guy on a motorcycle pull up next to me on the road the other day while we were riding along at about 25km/hr and ask me if I needed transport. I looked at him like he was on crack and said “no thanks”. I respect that they try so hard though. Kirk and I were joking yesterday about how we need t-shirts to wear around here that say “Yes I’m a tourist, no I don’t need transport, or a sarong and I already have accommodation, thank you” in Balinese.
I will be sad to leave Bali next week, since this has been such a memorable and magical trip for us, but I know that we also have a lot to look forward to in SE Asia. So stay tuned! It’s really been fun to share this experience through a blog with everyone! Don’t you just love the internet!!
Jodi
posted by Kirk & Jodi Roberts at 11:29 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home