Hammond Adventures

Day 14 – Waterfalls, Coffee, and Rice Terraces of Bali, Indonesia

Posted on July 27, 2023 by Greg

Sunday, July 16, 2023 – Today we scheduled a driver to take us to a number of sights outside of Ubud. Our primary goal was to see a few of Bali’s amazing waterfalls. Our first stop was the Kanto Lampo Waterfall. Still early in the morning, we opted not to get into the water and the waterfall itself, but enjoyed watching a young woman being coached by a local guide on how to pose to get the best waterfall photos.

A short drive brought us to the Tiburmana Waterfall. After walking down several flights of stairs through lush tropical plants we arrived at this powerful waterfall. At this stop we did get into the water for a few pictures. Due to the amount of water coming over the waterfall you cannot get too close to it.

We then went to the Goa Raja Waterfall, a less visited location. Again, after going down some very steep steps and walking across a couple of bamboo bridges we reached a human made infinity pool at the base of a small waterfall and saw the large Goa Raja Waterfall tucked back in a cave (Goa Raja in Indonesian means “king cave”). Because this waterfall was in a cave we could feel the force of the water coming down from the mist blowing against us as we inched closer to get a few pictures. We learned that just a week earlier there had been sturdier bridges and nicer walkways to this waterfall, but heavy rains had caused mudslides that destroyed them.

Our next stop was at Santi, a small coffee plantation. We took a short tour and sampled their coffee, tea and chocolate. We also learned about the Balinese specialty coffee, Kapi Luwak, made by collecting and roasting coffee cherries that have been eaten, partially digested and pooped out by luwaks (weasel-like animals). No thank you! Our brief visit was followed by lunch at a restaurant just down the street with an amazing view.

Our final stop on this excursion was the Abian Desa Pakudui Rice Terraces. A beautiful area of tiered rice terraces with the traditional Balinese cooperative irrigation throughout. This was definitely a tourist destination… lots of photo opp spots, a couple of ziplines, and a few famous Bali Swings that will provide a few swings over gorgeous, lush scenery for a fee.

After a quick stop back to our resort we headed out again. Ubud is a city known for being a hub for yogis. We were told the Yoga Barn was the most famous studio. Karen enjoyed a yoga class at this huge facility while Greg took a long walk. A casual dinner on our way back to our resort was the end of this busy day in Bali.

Categories: Thailand and Bali - July 2023 | Tags: Bali, Indonesia, Travel, Ubud, waterfall | Leave a comment

Day 13 – Exploring Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Posted on July 23, 2023 by Greg

Saturday, July 15, 2023 – Today we started with an early breakfast at our resort and headed out to explore Ubud. We had been advised to get out as early as possible to hit some of the popular local areas before they got crowded. One thing that was very evident walking around last night was that Ubud was filled with tourists from around the world. So we set out to visit a few places that were within walking distance of our resort.

Our first stop was the Campuhan Ridge Walk, a 1.2 mile (2 km) paved walkway along a ridge between two river gulleys. Our hike started with a mishap. On the stairs down to the start of the ridge walk Karen slipped and landed on her bum. Fortunately the slip was not serious, but Karen ended up bringing home a large bruise as an additional souvenir. The Ridge Walk was a nice hike with a climb at the start and then a relatively flat path along the top of the ridge until another small climb at the top end of the walk. It was a beautiful sunny morning and we took in views of some incredible houses and resorts built into the opposite hillsides.

After our walk we stopped by the @LazyCatsCafe to refuel with a snack and beverages. The cafe offers a nice street view from the second floor to watch the city morning activity. We liked the saying displayed on the wall: “BEING LAZY DOES NOT MEAN DOING NOTHING, IT MEANS DEDICATING TIME TO YOURSELF WITHOUT THE NEED TO BE PRODUCTIVE.” It was great for Karen to find decaf coffee (Thailand and Indonesia are both famous for their coffee, but decaf is not a thing!) while Greg enjoyed a delicious Masala chai tea.

Next up was a visit to Mandala Suci Wenara Wana (the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary). This is a protected park on the edge of Ubud city that houses 3 Hindu temples and is home to about 600 macaque monkeys. As you walk through the park you can experience the monkeys up close and personal. You need to keep food, drinks and all personal items tucked away, otherwise the monkeys will be happy to take them off your hands. Literally – we saw monkeys jump up and reach right into people’s bags. There are no fences or cages and the monkeys are allowed to roam and freely interact with whoever is inside the park. A few of these clever monkeys even go outside the park in search of tourists and their treasures. The village that manages the park feeds the monkeys sweet potatoes and bananas throughout the day so the monkeys are well fed and typically stay within the forest. We were not able to go into any of the temples as there were Hindu ceremonies happening (and we saw many people come into the park for those ceremonies) but we certainly did have fun watching the monkeys.

After getting many steps in for the day we returned to the resort for a shower and a massage. Our resort arranged for two women to come to Kano Sari and give us massages. We felt it was our responsibility to compare a Balinese massage to the ones we experienced in Thailand – thumbs up for Balinese massage!

Relaxed and refreshed we headed back out to attend one of the local traditional dance performances. There are many to choose from each evening that are held in various locations around the city. We attended the Kecak Fire and Trance Dance presented by the Taman Kaja Community. The Kecak Fire dance is the telling of Ramayana, an old Hindu story, that is shared through costumed dancers and is accompanied by vocal percussion music from a choir of about a hundred men that sit, stand, and lay in concentric circles around the fire. The dance involves almost all the adults from the Taman Kaja community. The Trance Dance (Sanghyang Djaran) depicts a horse rider who is “lulled into a trance” to walk over hot coconut husk coals. We found the costumes magnificent, the dances and stories fascinating and the supporting music provided by the men’s choir fantastic.

Kecak Fire Dance

Trance Dance

We ended our night with a very nice dinner. I took a picture of the bill because it came to over 1.1 Million Indonesian Rupiahs. It sounds like a lot until you realize it is equal to approximately $76 US. This was at a very nice restaurant that clearly caters to tourists – the pricing was extravagant by Balinese standards (and a nice treat for us).

Categories: Thailand and Bali - July 2023 | Tags: Bali, Indonesia, monkeys, Travel, Ubud | 1 Comment

Day 12 – A Sunrise and Move in Bali

Posted on July 22, 2023 by Greg

Friday, July 14, 2023 – After a day of relaxing on the beach we started to look toward our next destination in Bali: Ubud.

While at Sanur Beach on the east side of Bali we decided to get up in time to watch the sun rise. One thing that we learned while traveling in Southeast Asia was that the location being closer to the equator means that each day has approximately 12 hours of daylight. So we rose to see the sunrise at 6:35 a.m. knowing that it would be dark around 6:30 p.m. This created a new appreciation for the longer summer days we are used to in Connecticut.

After taking time to admire the sunrise, we enjoyed a leisurely morning breakfast overlooking the beach followed by a long walk on the paved path along the beach. We took advantage of one more outdoor shower, packed up, and checked out of our beach bungalow in time to meet our driver who took us to our next stop, Ubud, Bali.

Hot Chai Tea with Breakfast

Our driver for the hour-long trip was the same driver who picked us up from the airport. During our first ride he offered to take us for a traditional Balinese restaurant for a lunch of Babi Guling. This is a plate of pork cooked in a variety of ways (roasted pork, pork belly, ground pork, and two kinds of sausage) with rice and some side dishes. We found it to be quite tasty.

Once we were at our new resort, Kano Sari, we unpacked, settled in, and then went for a walk to explore Ubud. Our resort was just a 15 minute walk from town where there were a number of shops, restaurants, outdoor markets and lots of tourists. The biggest challenges were trying to navigate the narrow and uneven sidewalks and crossing the street without lights or stop signs. Stepping off the sidewalk to cross the street or get around people or various obstacles required good timing and awareness of the many scooters and cars going by, but we managed to do just fine. We found a place for dinner and sampled one of the many gelato shops in town.

Categories: Thailand and Bali - July 2023 | Tags: Bali, Travel, Ubud | Leave a comment

Day 11 – At the Beach in Bali

Posted on July 21, 2023 by Greg

Thursday, July 13, 2023 – After a week of busy sightseeing we built into our itinerary a couple of days to slow down and relax on the beach in Bali. We stayed in a cute bungalow steps from the beach at the Tandjung Sari resort in Sanur, Bali.

Our day started with Karen taking a local yoga class while Greg went on a walk to explore the long walkway along the beach. After a late beachside breakfast we spent some quality time relaxing on the beach.

After a late afternoon walk we headed back to Tandjung Sari. The resort offers dinner at tables right on the beach. The lighted umbrellas and pole lamps created a beautiful ambience for our delicious beach dinner with the sound of crashing waves in the background. We ended our evening with a walk into the town for gelato – a great ending to a great day.

Categories: Thailand and Bali - July 2023 | Tags: Bali, beach, Travel | Leave a comment

Day 10 – Exploring Singapore

Posted on July 20, 2023 by Greg

Wednesday, July 12, 2023 – Our Singapore day started with a visit to the original Ya Kun Kaya Toast for breakfast. This location originally opened in 1944, serving its thinly sliced Kaya toast for almost 80 years. It now has locations throughout Southeast Asia, including some airports. Kaya toast is a very is white bread dipped in a sweet sauce before toasting and is a very traditional Singaporean breakfast.You can order your Kaya toast with butter or peanut butter, and with or without a soft boiled egg. Karen enjoyed her toast with butter and kopi (Singaporean coffee with sweetened condensed milk) while Greg had peanut butter with his toast and an iced Thai tea. There was a line out the door of the restaurant the entire time we were there. It appears that this inexpensive breakfast continues to be quite popular.

From there we walked through Chinatown, stopping by the Thian Hock Keng temple. We observed the beauty of this Chinese temple and threw a couple of coins in the wishing well for good luck.

We were struck by the architecture throughout Singapore both old and new. The older buildings show the British influence with rows of three story buildings with shutters on the windows. And the new modern architecture is really inventive, unique and striking.

Our self guided walking tour took us to Sri Mariamman Temple, the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore built in 1827. In addition to being a strong place of support for Indian immigrants it is well known for its annual fire walking ceremony held each October or November where devotees are asked to walk across hot coals as a sign of their faith.

Our walk then took us to the Buddha Tooth Relic temple where, you guessed it, they have a Buddha Tooth Relic along with a number of other relics and artifacts. There is a beautiful garden on the rooftop along with a prayer wheel that you can walk with in saying your prayers. We were grateful to be able to spend some time looking at exhibits in an air conditioned space.

A trip on the subway took us for a quick visit to Little India. While there we walked through some street markets and made a visit to the colorful house of Tan Teng Niah. Built in 1900, it is the last surviving Chinese villa in Little India. The house was originally built to house a small business making sweets from sugar cane. In back of the building the business also made rubber which is a by-product from processing the sugarcane.

After getting some lunch we headed back to the hotel, gathered our carry-on bags and headed to the airport for the final leg of our flight to Bali. With a little time to explore the Singapore airport we discovered “the Jewel”, a large oval shaped building adjacent to the airport that contains shopping and a large internal garden with an incredible fountain that rains down from a circular opening in the ceiling. We were only able to glimpse the Jewel from a railway connector between terminals that passes through the Jewel. We learned that to go into the Jewel you would need to exit the airport, go through immigration, and then return through security to come back into the airport. The airport only recommends making the visit if you have at least a 5 hour layover. Since we learned about it on our way out of Singapore we will need to wait to explore the Jewel on another trip.

This leg of our trip was our first experience on Singapore Airlines. We were quite impressed. It was quite nice that each flight included wine, beer, soft drinks and a meal, even in economy seats.

With an evening arrival to Bali we could not see much on our way to the beachside resort. One additional bonus for Karen who made all of our travel plans was that our driver held up a sign with her name on it.

Categories: Thailand and Bali - July 2023 | Tags: Singapore, Travel | Leave a comment

Day 9 – From Chiang Mai to Singapore

Posted on July 20, 2023 by Greg

Tuesday, July 11, 2023 – Today was a travel day as we made our way to Bali for the second half of our Southeast Asia vacation. As part of our flight plan we scheduled a 20 hour layover in Singapore to give us an opportunity to explore and experience a new city.

With a late afternoon departure we had some time to walk around Chiang Mai one last time to see one of the old city gates, do some shopping, and grab another iced Thai tea.

We arrived in Singapore around 8:00 pm after a three hour flight from Chiang Mai. Fortunately this was only a one hour time change, so no adjustment was necessary. While our luggage remained checked through to Bali, we rushed out of the airport with just our carry-on bags to see the 9:00 pm nightly water and light show in front of the Marina Bay Sands casino. Karen read that the best place to see it is from Level 33, a craft brewery on the 33rd floor of a business building. After the fact we realized that being 33 floors up to see a water and light show that is only 4 stories high requires you to be sitting at the edge of the outdoor seating. So this was a planning fail – we did not see the water and light show but we were able to have a late light dinner while sampling a beer at the “world’s highest urban microbrewery.”

While there we took in the magnificent view of the Singapore night skyline. Then we checked in and dropped off our bags at the nearby Singapore Westin and headed out for a walk to explore the Marina Bay area and see the Singapore Merlion. After a day of walking and traveling we were quite tired, but planned an early morning to get up and explore Singapore before resuming our trip to Bali.

Categories: Thailand and Bali - July 2023 | Tags: Chiang Mai, Singapore, Thailand, Travel | Leave a comment

Day 8 – Happy Elephant Home, a day we will not forget.

Posted on July 18, 2023 by Greg

Monday, July 10, 2023 – One of our main reasons for traveling to Chiang Mai was to go to an elephant preserve. Although they only host and take care of 4 elephants, our day at the Happy Elephant Home was amazing.

@HappyElephantHome is about an hour outside of Chiang Mai. We were picked up at our hotel and transported with several other people to Happy Elephant Home. Along the way we passed several other elephant preserves. Unfortunately, there are many places that still mistreat elephants today. In some cases the elephants were not abused, but not able to be cared for when the owner lost work during the pandemic. Happy Elephant Home has tried to buy additional elephants, but the price can be 2 Million Thai Baht or more.

When we arrived we were given our “Karen clothes” for the day: one size fits all loose pants and a shirt to put over our bathing suits so we won’t get our own clothes dirty. Then out to the elephants with a shoulder bag full of bananas. All of the visitors for the day (17 for the morning) were divided into four groups. We had an opportunity to meet, feed, and get to know each of the four elephants. Elephants love bananas!

After providing the elephants with their morning snack, we led them on a walk down to the river where they could cool off and bathe. Karen got in on the action with her bucket. After a rocky entrance into the river she had fun helping to give an elephant a bath.

We then took another casual walk back to Happy Home (elephants take their time walking) where the elephants could graze while we had our lunch.

Several members of the group left after lunch, but we stayed for the full day experience. One of the elephants at Elephants Happy Home is a little undernourished so our afternoon started with making a mixture of bananas, corn powder, and salt. After smashing these ingredients together with a lever mortar and pestle, we took handfuls to make large “meatballs” that we could feed to this elephant. The trick was to hold the food up to the elephants eye so she could see what you had, and then pop it right onto her open mouth.

Our last chore for the day was to lead the elephants to a big pit for an afternoon mud bath. Fortunately, a man in our group and his 11 year old daughter volunteered to go down into the mud pit to assist with the process so the rest of us could watch and enjoy the elephants waiting their turn. Once in the mud the helpers covered the elephant bellies with mud. Some of the elephants used their trunks to throw mud and dirt on their backs. The mud acts as sunscreen and insect repellent until they bathe in the river the next day.

We thoroughly enjoyed our Happy Elephant Home experience, lifetime memories for sure. After a van ride back to the hotel (at breakneck speed…driving is very different here) we had a little down time at our hotel pool before some time at the spa and dinner.

Categories: Thailand and Bali - July 2023 | Tags: Chiang Mai, elephants, Thailand, Travel | Leave a comment

Day 7 – Doi Suthep-Pui National Forest & Sunday Street Market

Posted on July 18, 2023 by Greg

Sunday, July 9, 2023 – This morning we set out to explore and potentially do some hiking in the Doi Suthep-Pui National Forest outside of Chiang Mai.

Our Grab driver taking us to the forest ended up being our ride for the day. He was willing to wait an hour or two at each of our stops. I believe he appreciated the off-app fare.

Our first stop was Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, a Buddhist temple that sits at the top of a mountain inside the National Park. To reach the temple you climb a large staircase with long serpent figures on both sides. The view over Chiang Mai is fantastic.

On the way down the mountain we stopped by the Montha Than Waterfall. I encourage you to listen to the video with your sound up. The sounds from the insects in the forest were astounding.

After lunch and a change of clothes we ventured into town to the Let’s Relax spa. This time we tried an aromatherapy massage and Japanese body scrub…much more enjoyable than Thai massage in our opinion. Massages in Thailand are very common and very inexpensive, so we took advantage of this treat often!

As if Saturday night was not enough, Chiang Mai also has a Sunday night street market that is bigger than Saturday’s. After a day of steps and walking and a relaxing massage we enjoyed a cocktail overlooking the street, grabbed some yummy food from street vendors and then did a little shopping.

Categories: Thailand and Bali - July 2023 | Tags: Chiang Mai, Thailand, Travel | 2 Comments

Day 6 – Jim Thompson House and Chiang Mai

Posted on July 16, 2023 by Greg

Saturday, July 8, 2023 – Today we were preparing to fly to Chiang Mai. Our flight was not until the afternoon so we spent the morning taking a tour of the Jim Thompson House Museum. Jim Thompson was an American who visited Bangkok in the late 1940s while in the military and saw a tremendous opportunity to organize the production of silk. He is credited with tremendously growing the silk trade and is also known as the “Thai Silk King.”

The house was built in 1958-1959. It is a design by Mr. Thompson, a trained architect, himself. He purchased several small Thai teak houses that were disassembled, transported to Bangkok and then reassembled into his house. The grounds include some beautiful gardens and additional small homes for his wait staff.

As the silk business grew and expanded, Mr. Thompson used some of his wealth to acquire and accumulate a unique collection of artwork and sculpture that is still displayed at the House and Museum today.

Mr. Thompson also enjoyed adventures. His last trip was to Cameroon where he disappeared in 1967. Despite a large search and reward for him, he was never found. The house and the silk business is now held and run by a foundation.

The tour was very interesting and a great way to spend the morning. Off to our next adventure in Chiang Mai via a quick flight on Scoot (Singapore Airlines low cost alternative).

We arrived in Chiang Mai and easily checked into our next hotel. We were encouraged to experience the Saturday night market in the old city, so after a quick tuk tuk ride we found ourselves in the midst of a lot of activity. Streets were lined with food stalls and small tents of souvenirs and various other items. It was fun to walk around and sample a few yummy things while getting our bearings in a new city. Karen sampled the local Thai rolled ice cream and Greg thoroughly savored a mango smoothie.

Categories: Thailand and Bali - July 2023 | Tags: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Thailand, Travel | 2 Comments

Day 5 – Foodie Day in Bangkok & the Reclining Buddha

Posted on July 16, 2023 by Greg

Friday, July 7, 2023 – Ever since we started to plan our trip to Thailand we talked about sampling the local food. Today was our foodie day.

We were up and out early for a cooking class at the House of Taste cooking school. The class started with a trip to a local street market where we learned about the different ingredients we would be cooking with. After our brief lesson we had some time to explore the market and taste a few new things. This was our first opportunity to taste the infamous durian fruit. This fruit is ugly looking and has a bad smell from the outside, but the fruit inside is sweet and has the consistency of a soft cheese. We both found the fruit tasty, but not something we would eat on a regular basis. Fun fact: due to the smell, durian is banned from hotels and the metro system.

Our class of 13 people went back to the cooking school where we prepared four different classic Thai dishes. Our menu included Shrimp Pad Thai, Papaya Salad, Red Curry with Chicken and Mango Sticky Rice. After cooking we got to sit and enjoy a delicious lunch..we did a good job!

Greg making Shrimp Pad Thai

Karen making coconut milk sauce

After our cooking class we took time for one more temple. We went to Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha). The Buddha is truly amazing in its size, 15m (50 ft) high and 46m (150 ft) long. One additional interesting fact about this temple is that it is considered the first public university in Thailand. The focus is on health and wellness. This includes medicine so this temle is thought to be the birthplace of Thai massage.

In the evening we continued our foodie day with a guided @WithLocals walking tour through Bangkok’s Chinatown (the largest Chinatown in the world). The streets were lined with various food vendors and small, open restaurants. Our guide, Tik, and the tour company’s summer intern Erica, shepherded us through this chaotic area. The crowds and packed streets and large lit up signs reminded us a little bit of Time’s Square in New York City.

Our first stop was to purchase Chinese fried doughnuts, though we saved them to eat last. While they cooled we got in line for soup at Nai Ek Rolled Noodle. This incredibly popular soup spot has unique rolled noodles. The pork soup was delicious despite it being really warm and humid (sweating in your soup just adds salt, right?).

Next was some coconut ice cream with shaved coconut on top. This dish was very environmentally responsible as the bowls are made from the coconuts themselves.

The next course was small fried rice cakes. These little bit-sized morsels were quite tasty. Then we tried another bite-sized appetizer that consisted of a handmade pastry cup filled with a mixture of corn, ham, and onion in some sort of cream sauce.

We did stop by and look at the fried insects and scorpions, but we both opted out of trying them.

The last stop was a quick Tuk Tuk ride away. Our guide took us to the rooftop bar at Above Riva. We enjoyed a drink, our fried doughnuts, and a spectacular nighttime view of Wat Pho and Wat Arun. Great way to end the evening, and we were so happy to have a guide through this fun but overwhelming experience.

On our way to the metro station to catch a subway ride back to our hotel we walked through the flower district. Although it was getting late at night, this wholesale area was bursting with bunches of flowers waiting to be distributed or bought for the next day. There were dozens of roses available for 50 Thai baht each (about $1.50 US) The sights and smells were amazing. Another amazing day in Bangkok!

Categories: Thailand and Bali - July 2023 | Tags: Bangkok, Thailand, Travel | Leave a comment