Our last night in Bali we all went on a dinner cruise. It was a great evening with lots of laughs, and even an impromptu karaoke song by Suhas (see video below).
Below Timbis, the flying site, were hundreds of seaweed farms.
Harvest time
Everyone helps with the harvest
They use bamboo frames with strings criss-crossing it to hold the seaweed shoots. These are harvested after 45 days. The farmers make RP 4000 (apx 40 cents) per kilo on the seaweed they sell.
In northern Bali there is a place called Kintamani where they have an active volcano with a beautiful lake. Our driver explained that we must be very lucky as there were no clouds or fog around the volcano when we arrived. The view was stunning.
Mount Batur (volcano) is on the left with lake Batur below
From there we headed south to the terraced rice patties in Tegalalang which is just north of Ubud.
Our last stop, Ubud, is known as the cultural center of Bali. It is a small town 1000 feet above sea level surrounded by rice patties. The villages surrounding Ubud are well known for their ice bamboo crafts and furniture as well as amazing wood and stone carvings.
In the main town of Ubud there are tons of yoga studios, art studios, cafes and coffee shops. It is an amazing place, I only wish we were able to spend more time there.
After walking around Ubud for a few hours we stopped for drinks and a snack at Cafe Lotus which I think has one of the best views in Ubud. The restaurant has two dinning areas: the main area up front with normal chairs and an long raised platform with low tables on bamboo mats that runs along a large lotus pond. This is where we sat and ate Lumpia (Indonesian spring rolls). A large temple beside the pond was the backdrop for a live Balinese traditional dance performed by 20 girls between the ages of 5 and 15.
One of the days the wind was too strong to fly so we headed to the beach. Suhas and I really wanted to surf, Kingsley thought we were crazy. Neither of us had any idea what we were doing but enjoyed watching the surfers, and it looked easy! We found a guy willing to give us a lesson and headed into the surf. I remember thinking "these waves look too small" to myself as we walked into the water...I had ALOT to learn.
Lesson number 1: make sure the board is pointed into the wave not sideways. That way when the wave crashes the board isn't slammed into you. It took me a few good bashes before I got that one down. Over a week later I still have bruises on my arms and knees from the board.
Lesson number 2: when you fall off the board, fall as far from the board as possible to avoid having the board land on top of you. After re-learning lesson number one a few times I made sure I flung myself as far from the board as I could anytime I was falling off. Suhas was not so lucky and ended up with a knot on his head.
Lesson number 3: once you catch the wave transition from your stomach to your feet without placing your knees on the board. Both Suhas and I struggled with this one...initially from fear and later out of pure exhaustion.
Lesson number 4: remain calm and relaxed. Not gonna happen, the waves were huge!!
After what seemed like forever our instruction was over. I am happy to report that I did stand up on the board. And both of us walked out of the water with a smile on our face. Success.
After several full days of flying Kingsley was ready for a break so we headed north to explore the mountains and temples of Bali.
Tampak Siring Temple- holy spring water temple. It is believed this water source is sacred and that it can heal various diseases.
People dunk there head under the holy water spouts over and over again starting from left ending at the right. I tried to keep track of how many dunks each person was doing but I lost count somewhere in the mid forties.
Around to the back we found the source of the holy spring which looked pretty magical to me.
But we were very careful not to throw any "coints" into the holy pond
After the temple we stopped at a coffee and tea plantation in Temen village which is located on a steep jungle hill.
At the plantation we were given samples of coffee and tea to try. The most famous being the Luwak coffee which is the most expensive coffee in the world.
It is $500-$1000 per pound and is said to have the most unique taste. The reason for the unique flavor? It is harvested from luwak (a small squirrel like mongoose) droppings which are collected by hand from the jungle floor.
The droppings are then cleaned, roasted, packaged and sold.
Neither of us being coffee drinkers we did not try the luwak coffee but we did end up buying some of the luwak coffee beans for family and friends back home who enjoy coffee. I cant wait to be there when they try it!
One of the main reasons for going to Bali was to give Kingsley a chance to get his paragliding fix, but we ended up doing so much more and making new friends along the way. Singapore is not set up for paragliding so after 9 months of no flying he was so excited to stretch out his wings and get in the air. A great friend from Seattle, Suhas who now lives back in India, invited us to join him and the Temple Pilots paragliding group in Bali. There were about 20 pilots and non-pilots in the group who welcomed us with open wings.
Timbis, the main flying site, is not on any maps. It is on the southern most coast of Bali, a beautiful rugged coastline with seaweed farms below that transformed the ocean into a checker board of blues and greens.
We rented 3 large SUVs to get around the island with all of the paragliding gear. The flying site was an hours drive from where we were staying. Kingsley was in charge of car # 2 which made me very nervous. Bali driving is pretty crazy...few traffic lights, no road signs or marked lanes and thousands of motorcycles weaving in and out of the cars makes for an eventful ride. Once we got near the coast line the roads went from pothole ridden blacktop to bumpy cattle grazing trails.
Kingsley was a driving pro but I'm still surprised we brought the car back in one piece.
After driving through the back country seeing nothing but a few cows we arrived at a gate which was monitored by a little old lady called Betty Bu. She sits at this gate in the middle of no-where to collect the 10,000 RP ($1) fee to enter the paragliding site. She had a twinkle in her eye and a contagious toothless grin.
It was so nice to watch Kingsley fly again and best of all to see the smile on his face at the end of each day.
and then this...
I was initially horrified but am now strangely curious. I think I may have to buy some as a special treat for our next visitors from the States!!
They use bamboo frames with strings criss-crossing it to hold the seaweed shoots. These are harvested after 45 days. The farmers make RP 4000 (apx 40 cents) per kilo on the seaweed they sell. 
A large temple beside the pond was the backdrop for a live Balinese traditional dance performed by 20 girls between the ages of 5 and 15.
After what seemed like forever our instruction was over. I am happy to report that I did stand up on the board. And both of us walked out of the water with a smile on our face. Success.
At the plantation we were given samples of coffee and tea to try. The most famous being the Luwak coffee which is the most expensive coffee in the world. 
The droppings are then cleaned, roasted, packaged and sold.
We rented 3 large SUVs to get around the island with all of the paragliding gear. The flying site was an hours drive from where we were staying. Kingsley was in charge of car # 2 which made me very nervous. Bali driving is pretty crazy...few traffic lights, no road signs or marked lanes and thousands of motorcycles weaving in and out of the cars makes for an eventful ride. Once we got near the coast line the roads went from pothole ridden blacktop to bumpy cattle grazing trails.
Kingsley was a driving pro but I'm still surprised we brought the car back in one piece.
After driving through the back country seeing nothing but a few cows we arrived at a gate which was monitored by a little old lady called Betty Bu. She sits at this gate in the middle of no-where to collect the 10,000 RP ($1) fee to enter the paragliding site. She had a twinkle in her eye and a contagious toothless grin. 
