I posted on FB the other day how proud I was of myself for biking everywhere. Since moving to Thailand we have not bought a car, and we are not planning on it. Our little planned community is so small we can bike everywhere and we can even bike to the nearest mall.
The other day I biked 7 minutes to school, then after school I biked to the bank, the grocery store, walked to the seamstress and met Ahnika at her doctor's appointment- all with no car. We are all feeling responsible and "carbon footprint conscous." Fast forward one day later...
Ahnika and I came out of the market to a serious thunderstorm and a downpour! We threw our grocery bags (cloth bags, mind you) in our bike baskets and began furiously pedaling! Almost instantly I had a large raindrop in one eye and counldn't see a thing from that eye and could barely see through the rain with the other. "Go faster, Mom" Ahnika shouts at me.
The rain was warm, but there was a LOT of it. We were laughing most of the way home, squinting and enjoying the puddles that were already forming.
We pedaled home in under our usual 7 minutes and we were completely drenched.
The groceries were drenched- the paper bag of flour was wet, the cereal box we already soggy and collapsing...in 7 minutes.
Now I am from the rainy NW, but this we don't usually do our grocery shopping in the rain. So I as I was trying to salvage the flour I thought to myself, "sometimes you just gotta have a car... and a footprint."
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Bali April 2011
Bali Blog
I’m learning that you can tell a lot about a country, and the people that live there, by the traffic. Bali transportation, like Thailand and all of SE Asia, is dominated by motorcycles; scooters to be more precise. The scooters in Bali carry anything and everything as in Thailand but the roads are smaller, rarely more than one lane each way. Drivers honk, but it’s more to say excuse me than get the hell out of the way. Although might has right, scooters are allowed to weave in and out of traffic with impunity. It’s a very relaxed chaos here.
Bali is definitely a place to relax. We only had time for one day at the beach but the beach we picked was gorgeous. Small, with white sand and anchored with contrasting volcanic black rocks on each end. Uncrowded, quiet, and tops optional, with a few mom and pop shops selling drinks and a bit to eat.
Even our bike ride was relaxing. We were taken up country and coasted down, down, down through villages, farms, and of course, terraced rice fields. Our guides were in no rush. They allowed us to take all the pictures and video we wanted. They moved when we moved and stopped when we stopped. They answered all our questions and made us feel at home.
The terraced rice fields are an incredible site; a modern day Machu Picchu. In Thailand, water is moved with small engine water screws. In Bali the water simply flows downhill through a series of irrigation channels. In Thailand, machines are used for plowing, planting, and harvesting. In Bali no machines are used, just an ox for plowing, every thing else is done by hand. At the end of our bike ride we where served lunch among some rice fields in different stages. After watching people cut, thrash, collect, dry, etc. Ahnika commented that she had a new appreciation for rice.
We had a great rafting trip. The classification was in the 2-3 range but the water was warm and the canyon filled with plant life. There were a couple sections 50 to 100 yards each where the basaltic canyon wall had been carved depicting Balinese stories. It was recently commissioned by a local hotel but looked like something from a lost generation.
We spent a day diving a World War II ship wreck near our second hotel in Pandang Bai. The ship wreck had become a huge reef covered with life. We also paid a local with a very nice Polynesian style boat a whopping $20 to take us to his secret snorkel location. It was one of the best snorkeling sites I have been to. He also took us (just to satisfy my comparison curiosity) to a touted snorkel location described on many inter-net pages. It was good, but hiring that local was money well spent.
And of course there was Ubud. The arts and crafts where great but Ubud has become too commercialized, and overrun with hoards of people coming in on tour buses.
10 Best Things about Bali by Kristy
10) Green, green everywhere- so many shades of green
9) Banana leaves, folded into bowls, used as placemats, woven into curtains
8) Clear water and colorful coral
7) Art: batik, carvings, jewelry, baskets and paintings
6) Self-sustainable living
5) Smiling school children walking to school in colorful, ironed uniforms
4) White sandy beaches
3) Woman carrying amazing things on their heads: tables, fruit and rice
2) Daily ceremonial offerings of flowers; outside of businesses, temples and your hotel room door
1) Peaceful, kind people
Check out more Bali pictures at the following link
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1660021754592.73476.1658637733&l=9f3b24ee62..
I’m learning that you can tell a lot about a country, and the people that live there, by the traffic. Bali transportation, like Thailand and all of SE Asia, is dominated by motorcycles; scooters to be more precise. The scooters in Bali carry anything and everything as in Thailand but the roads are smaller, rarely more than one lane each way. Drivers honk, but it’s more to say excuse me than get the hell out of the way. Although might has right, scooters are allowed to weave in and out of traffic with impunity. It’s a very relaxed chaos here.
Bali is definitely a place to relax. We only had time for one day at the beach but the beach we picked was gorgeous. Small, with white sand and anchored with contrasting volcanic black rocks on each end. Uncrowded, quiet, and tops optional, with a few mom and pop shops selling drinks and a bit to eat.
Even our bike ride was relaxing. We were taken up country and coasted down, down, down through villages, farms, and of course, terraced rice fields. Our guides were in no rush. They allowed us to take all the pictures and video we wanted. They moved when we moved and stopped when we stopped. They answered all our questions and made us feel at home.
The terraced rice fields are an incredible site; a modern day Machu Picchu. In Thailand, water is moved with small engine water screws. In Bali the water simply flows downhill through a series of irrigation channels. In Thailand, machines are used for plowing, planting, and harvesting. In Bali no machines are used, just an ox for plowing, every thing else is done by hand. At the end of our bike ride we where served lunch among some rice fields in different stages. After watching people cut, thrash, collect, dry, etc. Ahnika commented that she had a new appreciation for rice.
We had a great rafting trip. The classification was in the 2-3 range but the water was warm and the canyon filled with plant life. There were a couple sections 50 to 100 yards each where the basaltic canyon wall had been carved depicting Balinese stories. It was recently commissioned by a local hotel but looked like something from a lost generation.
We spent a day diving a World War II ship wreck near our second hotel in Pandang Bai. The ship wreck had become a huge reef covered with life. We also paid a local with a very nice Polynesian style boat a whopping $20 to take us to his secret snorkel location. It was one of the best snorkeling sites I have been to. He also took us (just to satisfy my comparison curiosity) to a touted snorkel location described on many inter-net pages. It was good, but hiring that local was money well spent.
And of course there was Ubud. The arts and crafts where great but Ubud has become too commercialized, and overrun with hoards of people coming in on tour buses.
10 Best Things about Bali by Kristy
10) Green, green everywhere- so many shades of green
9) Banana leaves, folded into bowls, used as placemats, woven into curtains
8) Clear water and colorful coral
7) Art: batik, carvings, jewelry, baskets and paintings
6) Self-sustainable living
5) Smiling school children walking to school in colorful, ironed uniforms
4) White sandy beaches
3) Woman carrying amazing things on their heads: tables, fruit and rice
2) Daily ceremonial offerings of flowers; outside of businesses, temples and your hotel room door
1) Peaceful, kind people
Check out more Bali pictures at the following link
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1660021754592.73476.1658637733&l=9f3b24ee62..
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