Eat Pray Love Ubud

The popularity of Bali has boomed in recent years due to the vastly popular book and movie "Eat Pray Love", featuring Julia Roberts.  Although the movie isn't just about Bali, we can definitely say that the title words rang true with us - we absolutely loved the people, atmosphere, and food in the spiritual centre of Ubud, Bali. 

We started our adventure in Bali with 2 days in Kuta - a loud, over-commercialized city near the airport which.. we don't really recommend unless you like noise, being overcharged, or beaches littered with garbage..

PRAY
As part of our world trip, we wanted to go somewhere where we could learn and practice Yoga.  After some research, we found a place called The Yoga Barn in Ubud, Bali, so we headed there to check out the studio and immediately signed ourselves up for the 20-class pass (which they allowed us to share between the 2 of us).  The atmosphere of this place is unlike any other yoga studio we've ever seen (not that we've done a lot of yoga in the past...).  Nestled in a serene area, the huge windows of the lower studio open up to a lotus pond, while the upper studio overlooks the surrounding rice fields… to top it off, the studio also features a quiet organic cafe and spa nestled amongst the vegetation.

We mainly did the typical Vinyasa Flow classes, but they also offer a huge selection of specialty classes to choose from.  We decided to try some, including:
  • Anusara Therapeutics - focuses on alignment to relieve and heal musculo-skeletal aches and chronic pain in knees, neck, feet, lower back, and wrists.
  • Sukshma Yoga - uses breath and micro movements to provide subtle exercise to internal organs.  We learned to use our Yoga power to clean our breath without using mouthwash or brushing our teeth… ok, that one maybe a bit more far fetched, but we did learn a lot from the rest of that class :).
  • Acro Yoga - a fun class that combines yoga with pairs acrobatics.  A few more of these classes and we'd be set to join the Cirque Du Soleil.
  • Qi Gong - oriental movement meditation for cultivating internal energy.  Basically, you slap all the parts of your body… apparently it helps to stimulate blood flow.

Unlike the intense Power Yoga classes that we'd previously done in Calgary, we felt that Yoga Barn better understood and taught the essence of Yoga.  They continually reminded us that "Yoga is not about instant gratification.  It's a gradual process about yourself and having fun - it's not about power or pain".  They seem obvious statements to read, but are not always apparent when you participate in certain classes back home.

EAT
The food in Ubud in wonderful and cheap.  For around $5/pers/meal, we indulged ourselves in gourmet flavours and loved every meal. The restaurants here cater to every diet, from roasted suckling pig and hamburgers to vegetarian and raw vegan desserts.  To top it off, several restaurants even have outstanding views among the rice fields.

LOVE
Bali is typically know for its beaches and perfect surf waves.  The lesser known things are what we learned to love the most, particularly the rice fields.  You can actually find them all around Ubud, though most are hidden behind the various hotels, restaurants and shops lining the roads.  Venture just outside the centre of town and you'll be rewarded by the scenic beauty.  We did a few walks around town specifically to appreciate the rice fields and we were not disappointed.  

We were also fortunate enough to stay at a fairly inexpensive hotel ($33USD/night) that has an infinity pool that appears to flow right into the fields….wow.  Some of the luxury bungalow rooms ($55-$95USD/night) even have really nice balconies facing the rice fields.  For fun, we took a tour of some new villas belonging to the hotel next door - for $150USD/night you get an amazing 1 bedroom private villa with its own private pool.  It was definitely once of the nicest accommodations either of us had ever seen!  

We spent our last day at a spa where you can get a 2.5hour package (including a 60min massage, body scrub, body mask, flower bath, tea, and a cookie) for only about $28cad.

Aah, what's not to love about this place...

We absolutely loved our experience here and hope to return one day.  Hopefully, the real-estate and tourist booms don't destroy all of the things here that we came to appreciate so much. 

A day with the birds

Ok, maybe it wasn't a full day... but we passed a lot more time at the Kuala Lumpur Bird Sanctuary than we were expecting... and definitely took a lot of pictures!  The nice thing about this park is that most of the birds are free to walk and fly around.  Obviously, it doesn't beat a forest, but it's better than seeing them in small cages at the zoo. 

Since the birds are free to fly around, there are multiple opportunities to interact with the birds.  In one of the areas, we got to feed sunflower seeds to the colourful parrots as they dangled all over our arms, shoulders, and heads, while squabbling with each other for the seeds.

The funny part was after Jen ran out of seeds, one of the bigger birds tried to eat her watch… it seems the yellow button looks like a kernel of corn!!  Luckily, the bird eventually gave up on trying to chew the plastic button, so it spit it back into Jen's hand and we will have to find some glue to re-attach it :).

Dom also had a bit of fun feeding the birds :)  Given his latest luck with animal encounters (ie. the 2 rabies scares), he thought that he would probably get an eye poked out… but thankfully, it didn't happen.

We also watched the stork being fed fish - a pretty simple process where the keeper comes and dumps a bunch of fish on the ground, and the storks scramble to get their share.  Once the fish ran out, one of the storks still wanted more.. it snuck up and tried to eat Jen's leg.  Their beaks are fiercer than they look - it actually managed to leave a couple of decent sized bruises!  When Jen yelped at the bite, the stork squawked back and they gave each other a glare.. the stork then backed off realizing that Jen wasn't going to let it try again.

A bit cheesy, but Jen loves playing with animals... so we went for some all out cheesiness - paying to take pictures of her with tamed birds arranged to perch on her.  It was cool because they let us choose which birds to take pictures with.  The handler put them on you and voilà… picture perfect!  Jen chose 2 cool looking owls and got to pet their cute little heads after!

From weird chickens to ostriches, there is a lot to see and enjoy at the KL Bird Sanctuary.  This may not be the most adventures thing we've done, but it was quite relaxing and fun.

Kuala Lumpur

On our way to Bali (our last stop in South-East Asia), we did a 2 day layover in Kuala Lumpur (the Capital of Malaysia).  Here, we mainly just walked around, ate Malaysian food, and enjoyed the sites. 

One of the first things you see when arriving in Kuala Lumpur are the Petronas Twin Towers which, between 1998 and 2004, were considered the highest buildings in the world.  Although they lost the title to some building in Dubai (of course), they still retain the record for the highest two storey bridge in the world.

To ensure that we maximized our taste buds, we did an "Eat, Pray & Love" walking tour around the central market to introduce us to the multicultural diversity of Malaysian food.  We were not disappointed.  During the tour we got to taste several local Chinese, Malaysian and Indian cuisines.  Here are a few dishes that stood out:
  • Teh Tarik:  similar to Chai Tea but made with evaporated and condensed milk… sweet.  We got to watch their expertise as they mixed the tea by pouring it back and forth at arms length
  • Banana Roti:  a Malaysian style bread / pancake / crepe 
  • Tissue Roti:  these are super thin, crispy, and look like a giant birthday hat… so good!
  • Mee Goreng:  Malaysian fried noodles that we tasted from a street vendor hidden behind a sketchy-looking building, in a nondescript alley
  • Luohan Juice:  juice of a chinese fruit that is 300 times sweeter than sugar (the english name is: Siraitia grosvenorii).  BTW, we tried it both hot and cold.. it's much better hot.
  • Apam Balik:  a delicious peanut pancake
  • Claypot Chicken Rice:  nothing to say other than… mmmmm!!!

Since it was an Eat, PRAY & Love tour, they also took us to visit a Mosque, Hindu Temple, and Buddhist Temple.

We can't forget to mention all of the rats we saw while crossing the "wet market" - the darker area of the market where they usually sell fresh fish and meats.

To kill a bit of time while waiting to depart for the airport, we also tested our archery skills.. at the nearby mall :)

All in all, we enjoyed our time here ;)

Phnom Penh and the Khmer Rouge

One of the big horror stories of Cambodia is the genocide that occurred not so long ago (1975-1979).  The Khmer Rouge (also known as the Communist Party of Kampuchea) tried to reform the country, while killing around 2 million Cambodians in the process.  

In Phnom Penh, we visited S21 (the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum) - a school that was converted to a security prison where Cambodian were tagged, interrogated, and kept, before being executed.  We also rented a motorbike to visit the Killing Fields, where large numbers of Cambodians were brought to be executed and buried in mass graves.  The 2 genocide sites are now memorials filled with stories, photos, and artist depictions.  The Killing Fields also have an audio guide that lead you through the grounds, filling your mind with first-hand accounts and vivid glimpses of the horrors that took place here... not just to soldiers of war, but to millions of innocent villagers including women, children, and even infants.  Evidence of bones and clothing lay scattered in the mass graves of the Killing Fields.  Each year, the rainy season continues to uncover new artifacts from the massacre, which are carefully collected and stored in the various display cases at the site. 

We've been to several genocide museums in our travels now, yet each one continues to leave us astounded at how thin the line is between human decency and ravaging cruelty.

...the rest of the temples

We saw so many temples during our 3 days of exploration, but didn't want to create 16 separate posts… so here's a quick run through of the rest of the various Buddhist/Hindu temples around Siem Reap (in no real particular order)….

Ta Prohm (Temple 5 of 16)
This temple is probably the second most famous one as it's was used in the filming of Tomb Raider.  The best part of this temple is all of the huge trees that have grown on and through its walls over the years.  You can really see the power of nature at work.

Ta Keo (Temple 6 of 16)
This unfinished temple gives archeologist insight into understanding how the temples were built.  They figured out that all the stones were first put into place, then all carvings were chiselled directly into the walls.  The temple was unfinished because the king died before completion… according to their beliefs this means, poor him, he did not make it to heaven :(

Thommanon (Temple 7 of 16)
Just another small stop on the way to Angkor Thom.

Chau Say Thevada (Temple 8 of 16)
Another small temple just across the street from Thommanon.

Rolous Group (Temples 9&10 of 16)
On the way back to the fishing village we stopped at two temples: Bakong and Pa Keo.

Preah Khan (Temple 11 of 16)
Yet another temple.. but Jen got blessed and received a super power bracelet from an old lady here. Ok, it's probably bogus, but the old lady was so smiley and cute we just couldn't resist :)

Neak Poan (Temple 12 of 16)
This is a small shrine with basin of water around it, but it was being restored so we couldn't walk through.

Ta Som (Temple 13 of 16)
Popular of visit because of the big tree growing through the gate at the back of the temple.

East Mebon (Temple 14 of 16)

Pre Rup (Temple 15 of 16)

Bantea Kdei (Temple 16 of 16)
And this was the last Angkor temple we saw…. It was a LOT of temples.. but overall, a great experience that we'd recommend to anyone :).

Cooking Cambodian Food

The food in Cambodia is much like its neighbouring countries - Excellent!!  And like always, we could not resist learning to cook it. 

After a bit of research, we found a full-day cooking class where we learned (for lunch):
  • Cambodian Green Mango Salad
  • Fish Amok - this was probably our favourite Cambodian dish… so yum!
  • Sticky Rice Flour Balls with Palm Sugar,

… and for dinner:
  • Cambodian Curry
  • Fresh Spring Rolls
  • Nom Tong Nuyen (Crispy Crepes)

It was delicious and, as usual, there was WAY too much of it.  Fortunately, they gave us the option to wrap some up for take-out and we were more than happy to take them up on that offer! :)

Houses on Stilts and Floating Village

On the way back from Beng Mealea, we stopped at two unique fishing villages around Tonle Sap Lake, the largest freshwater lake in South-East Asia.  

Our first stop was Kampong Khleang, where all of the houses are on built on 10m stilts so that in the rainy season the houses don't get flooded.  The area of Tonle Sap Lake increases 5 to 6 times during the rainy season, causing the level of water rising dramatically.  Since we were here during the dry season, we could walk through the village to see all of the stilts, whereas during the wet season the water level reaches the floor level of the homes so they use boats to get around.

We then took a boat cruise to the second village - a floating village.  On the way, we saw locals going about their daily business along the river.

We finally emerged to see the houses of the floating village.  This floating village moves nearby the shore of Tonle Sap Lake as its volume increases in the rainy season and shrinks in the dry season.  The impressive thing is that all of the houses float on bamboo.. it seems to work!  

Being Indiana Jones in Beng Mealea

Our tuk tuk driver, Sam, told us about a cool unrestored temple 40km from Siem Reap that you can explore "Indiana Jones style"… we were sold.  So, for our second day of temple adventures, he picked us up in a car and took us to check out Beng Mealea (Temple 4 of 16). 

On arrival, we climbed through the crumbled gate and encountered some local kids who started warning us where it was / wasn't safe to climb.  They started to lead us through the wreckage: Jen with a group of girls who showed her the "easy route", and Dom with the boys who jumped archways and went into... sketchier areas.  Shortly after our journeys through the rubble, they re-united us at the entrance... and demanded payment.  By following them, we sorta knew that we had entered into an invisible agreement that they were our "guides".  Normally, we refuse to encourage this behaviour and avoid giving money to, or buying from children (they should be in school rather than trying to make money off of tourists), but they did help us build up some confidence in navigating the rubble so we gave them a buck or two to share amongst themselves. 

Since we didn't yet have our fill, we re-entered the temple for further exploration.  Looking at the pictures, it's hard to get a sense of the temple size and all the climbing / scrambling we did, but imagine crawling into alcoves, on top of them, walking through boulders, and on walls… it was awesome.  You could really feel like an explorer.

This temple made our top 3 list because it was so much fun to explore.  One factor that played a big role in our appreciation is that we arrived super early (before the rush of tourist buses).  After an hour of exploring, we started seeing tourists arriving by the busload and the temple walkways started to clog up.  By the time we left, the temple was so crowded that it lost its charm.

Making a Buddhist Monk Friend

While visiting Baphuon, we had a unique opportunity to meet Khen Khoul, a Buddhist monk.  Khen recently started learning English and was excited at the chance to practice, by starting a conversation with Dom.  He was curious to learn about where we were from, what our home is like, and what we do for a living.  

Equally curious, we also took this opportunity to ask him about his family, what it's like to be a monk, etc.  To our surprise, we learned that he chose to become a monk at a very early age because it was a good means for him to become well educated, and his family didn't have enough money to send him to school.  He expressed that there were so many things about his life and being a monk that he wanted to tell us all about, but since he had just started learning English, he couldn't find the words to tell us everything he wanted to say.  

He carried a fluent conversation with us and we were shocked to find out he had only started learning English in the last 3 months!  He told us that monks spend a lot of time studying every single day... they only get a few days off per year, and Khen decided to use his 4 days of vacation to visit the Angkor Wat area with a few of his monk friends.  

Angkor Thom

Following sunrise at Angkor Wat, we checked out Angkor Thom - the last city of the Kmer Empire.  

Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom were built by kings of different religions (Hindu and Buddhist, respectively), so the architecture and symbolism differ.  The Angkor Thom complex spans an area of 9 square kilometres, whereas Angkor Wat is only about 1 square kilometre.

Angkor Thom - Bayon (Temple 2 of 16)
Angkor Thom contains several temples including Bayon.  Bayon was our favourite temple because of the 200+ large stone faces carved into the temple towers.  Each face looks out toward each cardinal direction as though to watch the city from all directions.  We liked it so much that we actually even returned here on our third day, to see it again… the faces were just so cool :)

Ankor Thom - Baphuon (Temple 3 of 16)
Next to Bayon, was the Baphuon temple, a 3 tiered temple mountain representing Mount Meru.  By the time we climbed up, we were soaked in sweat and dead tired from the heat exposure.  One thing that you don't see from the pictures is just how hot it was - about 38 degrees Celsius + humidity…

Angkor Thom Gates
Angkor Thom also has other structures, but the last one worth mentioning are the gates.  You can enter and exit the complex through any of the 4 beautiful gates aligned to the 4 cardinal directions.  Each gate also has carved stone faces overlooking each direction, as well as angels and demons on either side of the bridge to protect the entry way.