Today we spent the day riding various quadrupeds, organised, ironically, by A True Balinese Experience. Ironically, because neither of the animals were actually indigenous to Bali!
The elephant ride with Momon the 15-year-old Sumatran Elephant was our first “experience”, and it was fabulous. Vaguely similar to riding a camel, the elephant swayed and clomped its way along the pathway through the undergrowth, largely ignoring its driver’s instructions to stop eating along the way… While it was already quite warm, we stayed mainly in the shade and saw beautiful views over the verdant green valleys.
The elephant park also had a sunbear to have photos with, but we decided to leave it to its isolation.
Then we were taken to the horse-riding place, where we hopped aboard a pair of very tired horses who had obviously been schlepping tourists along the beach all day. I felt really sorry for my horse, Tootie, who, as you can see in the pictures (all taken at the beginning of the ride!) was reeeeeaaaally tired. We managed to make it along the beach and back okay though, even though Tootie was stumbling a bit by the time we got back. The guide managed to coax Tootie into a bone-jarring trot for a few seconds, but he was so tired that we stopped really quickly. So much for my dreams of cantering along the beach through the surf – but I really couldn’t have asked any more of the poor horse.
I was amazed at the sand here – black sand with a glittering dusting of mica. Apparently it’s black because of the nearby volcano. That’s a comforting thought!
We ended up having lunch quite late – we had organised to have it at horse-riding, but the message hadn’t been relayed, so our driver was quite miffed at having to take us to another hotel to be given lunch. This place was pretty amazing-looking: marble lined infinity pool looking straight out over the valley, but it also came with a guard checking the car for explosive devices as we came in, plus there was a fence topped with barbed wire and broken glass.
After the busy day, it was quite a relief to get back to our hotel to relax and soak our aching muscles in their fabulous infinity pool, even though it overlooks the paddy fields rather than a dramatic valley!
We wandered out onto the main drag to have dinner, stopping at The Dirty Duck, which I’d heard about on Tripadvisor. It’s a gorgeous setting, overlooking the rice fields on the other side of the road as our hotel. Unfortunately their extra special meals you need to order a day in advance, but we had their specialty, Crispy Duck. R would have been amused – we had to eat with our hands, something I don’t do very often! (knife and fork here are just for show)
It happens wherever I go eventually… kittycats arrive. Bali is obviously no exception, as a tiny short-tailed cat came wandering through the restaurant in search of duck scraps. There are lots and lots of dogs around, but not many cats. Obviously the lure of the duck is enough!
Two Weeks Away 