A lovely rest in Singapore

Keith, Bruce, and Germaine at the botanical gardens.

"These aunties know what they are doing" says Regine, the youngest daughter in the family that we are staying with in regards to my marvel at how every cup of coffee I had to drink in Singapore had a perfect amount of milk and sugar. I love the term auntie, which Regine and Rachel explain to me is a sign of respect for people older than them.  

We had been stationed at the home of the Lim family in their lovely home near the center of Singapore for five days and four nights, double our original plan of only spending 1-2  nights.  We had met Keith Lim, the patriarch, during our tour of Taiwan.  As mentioned in one of our earlier posts, "The Food, the Friends and the Father", we crossed paths with Keith (not his given Chinese name but one he uses when he meeting Westerners) around the small town of Yuli where we subequently embarked on a Tour de Food before settling into (or onto) the 3rd floor of a catholic church for the night.  Keith, as discussed, was/is a much more diciplined cycle tourer that yours truly so the next morning he popped out of bed at his 5 o'clock alarm and sped off 20 minutes later.  For this reason he had easily doubled the amount of mileage that we had done, and through the mountains in Taiwan, a daunting task that we couldn't justify on our stop-and-enjoy type of touring.  However, we did have time to exchange information, in hopes that we might cross paths in the future.  But at that time we had very little interest or thought that we would visit him in Singapore.

One evening, when we were trying to decide what we would do with our cheap ticket we had been forced to buy to Singapore before entering Indonesia, we found Keith on the Warmshowers website and were very excited when he wrote saying that we should come to stay with him and meet his family.  Bali, and the rest of our time in Indonesia, had taken a lot out of us.  Though beautiful and filled with lovely people, we were tired of the days of endless heat, crazy busy roads, and seeming lack of knowledge of the existence of the "switch-back turn" whilst climbing a steep grade.  It had felt like it was taking a toll on our relationhip, with Bruce and I either fighting more or just feeling burnt out on riding altogether.  It was the first place where we had voiced the option of bailing on our trip early and if so, what we would do for the next 6 months (Bruce's relapsed fevers and illness made us seriously consider this).  In short, we were road-weary and ready for a bit more home-style respite that Singapore and staying with Keith's family could provide us.

A rooftop park with a view of some of Singapore's crazy architecture.

Singapore ended up being so much more pleasurable and refreshing than we could have imagined.  We had heard certain things about it: "It is very clean and orderly", "It is a BIG city", "It is very expensive to visit", "They are have very strict laws and enforce them with impunity".  In the end much of this was only partially true and even those truths had exceptions, as we discovered when we walked into a tunnel under a busy roadway where we came upon a flock of youths skateboarding, listening to loud music and sitting around smoking all the while be surrounded by signs reading "No skating" and "No loitering".  (I begged Chiara to take a picture of this but she refused, sorry readers).  The constant signs and reminders of what was expected of Singapore residents felt a little 1984 though, and I could imagine that I would get tired of the oversight if I lived there. 

A table full of food from the hawker stalls.

We found the food to be an amazing amalgamation of Chinese, Indian, and Malay, readily available at all hours at the myriad of "Hawker Stalls" and rather inexpensive to be honest.  Truly a nice treat as we were getting tired of the dishes that made up most of meals in Indonesia.  

There was an surprising amount of green space created by the proper planning and use of the limited lands.  Space to run, hike, cycle, boat, fly a kite, golf, and picnic was all available for residents to enjoy.  Like any city of the world it was not the mot personable place we vistied but it also was not rude and people were more than happy to help us when we needed directions.  

   

Some beautiful old neighborhoods.

Anyway, our time spent with Keith and his family was a joy.  They took us around to all their favorite eating spots, a deserved Unesco-rewarded botanical garden, a treetop hike in a monkey-filled forest, and took us to their Sunday night family dinner where we were fed like royalty and we left with a belly full of amazing homemade local foods and invites to stay with family members in our subsequent tour of Malaysia.  Also during our time in Singapore Chiara and I found a bit of time apart, a rarity these days and something than we think any touring couple would tell you is a must in order to ensure sanity and an ability to continue.

Bali would...?

Bruce was starting to feel a bit sick the evening before we started our short ride to the ferry that crosses over to Bali.  By the end of the ferry it became apparent that he was really not feeling well.  He was cycling slowly, and the hot, humid air sapped any and all extra energy.  I had booked us the stereotypically adorable bungalow that one is supposed to stay in on the Bali coast with somee gift certifcate airbnb money.  The bungalow was not much more than a comfortable bed, a small balcony, an outdoor shower, and the ocean and surrounding national park were just steps away.  By the first evening we were in Bali Bruce had a full-blown fever and we realized he was having another episode of tick-borne reoccuring fever, something he had suffered from prior after being bit by a tick about one year ago in Oregon.  There wasn't much we could do at that point except wait out for the fever to break, which it did after a few days.  While Bruce recuperated we spent time on the beach and snorkeled around the ocean, as we were staying at a beautiful coral reef area that was full of pretty fish.

  

Bruce on the beach and our sweet little bungalow.

We decided that we needed some cool mountain air after spending so much time in the heat and headed toward the volcanoes in the center of the island.  On the way we were super excited to see monkey all over the roads!  We had seen some similar monkeys of a different species in Taiwan, but not nearly as up close and personal as these monkeys.  The climb to the Wanagiri area, 1500 meters above the ocean we left behind, was pretty brutal, another shouderless steep climb where we were forced to push the bikes through multiple sections. But oh, was that cool mountain air ever worth the effort! It is such a treat to wear layered clothes and to need covers on the bed at night! The area had three lakes in the volcanic caldera and the slopes around the volcano housed beautiful waterfalls, coffee plantations, and fields of hydrangeas.  We stayed at a nice, quiet little guesthouse run by an interesting Balinese family with a pre-school aged daughter who, being raised around constant attention from foreign travellers, left you hardly a minute of time where you were not required to do some activity of her choice.  One of thoes things that, when you first arrive, is very cute and feels special but once you spend a day or two around and talk to the other travellers, you do everything you can to avoid and duck into your room when you hear her coming.  

  

Little crazy-pants girl and sunset at one of the volcanic lakes.

My 39th birthday fell on the last day in the volcanoe area.  Bruce was on the mend since starting antibiotic therapy for his illness.  We got up early and hiked down to one of the lakes and there was no one else around.   The area was so peaceful and tranquil with small temples scattered over the area.  As we started ascending again we were passed by a group of around 50 Balinese, young and old, dressed traditionally with women in wrap around saris with lace tops and thick belts around them, men in white buttondown shirts and plaid saris with thier traditional headdress.  They were taking offerings down to the temple. It was a very beautiful image to witness and we felt lucky to experience a special part of the lives of these people.

These were huge vampire bats.

Eventually we got back to riding our bikes both feeling refreshed after our mountain respite.   We bombed the 60km (about 35 miles) dowen the volcano to the all-to-well-known town of Ubud, where I had reserved a super sweet cabin in the back of a house very central in Ubud.  The riding was great until we started closing in on the Ubud area.  The air had become hot and sticky again the lower we got, and we found ourselve stuck in a large amount of impatient traffic as we tried to find our hotel location.  This was a very different place than the traffic that we had experienced thus far in Bali, not in a good way.  That evening we splurged for my birthday, after almost three weeks of eating mostly rice, veggies, tempe, tofu, and occaional satay or gado-gado at the roadside warungs (and only one other really western-style meal in 4 months save pastries and occasional convenience store sandwiches) we splurged on burgers that were absolutely amazing and I even drank my first glass of wine in months!  I guess not everything in the tourist trap spots is bad...;)

  Our really lovely little room, there were lovely rice fields all over the Ubud area.

We stopped by a beautiful botanic garden on the way to Ubud.

Ubud itelf was a mixed bag for us.  We had been both recommended and advised against going to Ubud, and we could understand why on both counts. There were beautiful walks through terraced rice fields (not that we needed to see anymore of these), and all the pampering one could want in Ubud.  However it felt like a fantasy land built on a western idea of eastern spirituality, and the sheer amount of other tourists and touts was in stark contrast with all the other parts of Indonesia we had experienced thus far.  However after nearly 4 months on our bikes with only rare moments of western comforts we welcomed the serene quiet, fast wifi, and delicious breakfasts that our host Madé prepared.  Though more than ready to get back on the road after two nights we felt truly refreshed and ready to finish our tour in Indonesia. 

We decided to make a little foray up into the east coast of Bali with our last few days before our flight off the island.  We decided on a route to  the Amed area that was reported to be more natural and less touristy.  Initially the riding was beautiful with little traffic and some gradual rolling climbs.  Soon this devolved as the sun pounded down on us and we started climbing more of the ridiculously steep grades that we came to expect in Indonesia.  First up... then down...then back up...then back down! On and on, the grade never dropping below nine or ten percent, with locals looking at us like we were the stupidest people on earth, which  maybe we were?  During that climb I reflected on the fact that we had only walked our bikes once the entire 3 months prior on a steeply graded  road in South Korea.  Now, in Indonesia, walking our bikes uphill had become a regular feature of our riding in this country.  

 

One of many super steep graded roads. You can barely see Bruce climbing. 

The view from the side of the mountain.

We failed to find a place to camp, as was usual in Indonesia.  Locals told us at the start of our tour that you can camp anywhere in Indonesia, but unlike previous countries we felt for many reasons that the camping portion of our tour should wait.  To simplify our experience there is a people here that lives without much. Any decent land plot is used, either to live on or to farm, just trying to make enough to get through from one year to the next.  If the land isn't used there is a good reason...and you probably want to avoid it as well.  The few places that people camp are in the mountains.  Maybe being a local, speaking the language and knowiing the culture, you might have no problem camping throughout Indonesia, but the low cost of accomodation and food makes it more challenging than it is worth to DIY.  

  

Bali had a lot of cool sculptures such as this one entering the Kuta area.

Me hanging in front of our hotel, biding our time until we flew out. 

We finished our tour of Indonesia heading to the south of Bali.  We expected very little heading into the city of Denpasar.  After a mixed reaction from the people of Bali we felt at times like "dollar bills with legs" (as we heard someone describe tourists).  However, we were presently surprised by the realativley moderate traffic, locals that were genuinely interested in us and our tour, great local variety of warungs (food stalls), and perfect vantage points from which to have a laugh at the ubiquitous Aussies.  We made our way early on the morning of our flight to the centrally located airport.  People seemed to be looking at us oddly as we made our way into the terminal area and started breaking down the bikes and packaging, as we have become accustomed.  We plan an extra 1+ hours into flight prep now in order to properly breakdown and stow the bikes in an attempt to limit more damage like we experienced on previous flights.  After completing our ritualistic air travel process we made our way into the terminal only to find the doors shut and signs reading "Flights cancelled due to VOLCANO"!!  Completely dumbfounded by our dicovery we made our way to the info booths and were informed that apparently a volcano on the adjacent island was spewing ash into the air and air travel had been limited for a few days.  The surreal parts of bike touring...forgetting the day/date, starting to ride in a new country and wondering why the cars are on the "wrong" side of the road, and being completely out of contact with world/local news.  It turned out to be little more than a minor inconveniece, however, as we were rescheduled on a flight for the following day ("pending volcanic activity").  Luck on our side, the air cleared enough and the next morning we departed for Singapore, and a major change in our situation.  We had mixed feelings leaving Indonesia.