Mérida Magic

As we pulled into Mérida, we realized we weren't in Kansas anymore (and by Kansas, I mean a beach town, a tourist haven, or small pueblo).  Mérida is the capital of the Yucatán, the largest city in the peninsula; it has the highest indigenous population (60% Mayan) and evident Spanish, French, and British influences.  

Many of the streets are cobblestone, and the colorful colonial buildings have ornate, carved doors and window boxes reminiscent of Paris or Barcelona.  On Sunday, everyone gathers in the town square.  Artists and food vendors fill the plaza, locals blow bubbles and giddy children leap for them, a band in gold suits fills the air with lively music, and people flood the streets to dance for hours.  

The Sunday scene

Around sunset, a ceremony is performed to lower the flag from the plaza center, and police march proudly in a procession. A Sunday mass echoes from Cathedral de Mérida, a towering structure, adorned with big brass door handles, that was built in the 1500s with stones from the Mayan ruins.

A mile from the city center are colonial mansions, many of which sprung up during a period of prosperity at the end of the 19th century.  Around this time, it is rumored that Mérida housed more millionaires than anywhere else in the world.  Today, many of those mansions have been repurposed into office buildings, museums, and banks.  To our good fortune, some are now hotels.  

Our Air BnB, Villa Mérida, is one of the most beautiful, peaceful places I've ever seen.  The rich, warm colors pop from the walls, fountains drown out the city noise, and vaulted ceilings, chandeliers, and tall doors that open with skeleton keys are daily reminders of the historical roots of this home.  Patrick is a charismatic host, excited to chat and share Mérida suggestions. All of the floors are original, and the tiles stay cool on the hottest of days.  Orange blossom soap and shampoo fill the air, and I think I'll always think of Mérida when I smell that sweet fragrance.

We've fallen into a lazy rhythm of waking up slowly, wandering down the block to the market, selecting the right ingredients, and cooking an afternoon breakfast in the large kitchen that sits beyond the pool at Villa Mérida.  We read and write for a few hours, then venture to town.  We sit on park benches and people watch, we follow the smells in the air to the best street food, we try to mimic the foot patterns of the dancers, and we laugh with the crowds of joyful locals.

If Mérida had a word, it would be "energy"- or "tradition" - or "free".

Monkey Whisperer

Here we are, with our epic trip on the homestretch. It’s been an amazing adventure-filled journey, and we are taking it all in with one more full week in our rooted town of Uluwatu before heading to Lembongan to close it out. We truly do feel like locals around here as we are recognized and waved to with a big smile by many of the locals along the main road. We have left our mark on this town and have been privileged to call it home for the past 2 months. Chantal and I spent a few days in Ubud when we were here in February, and we both agreed that we should revisit the food and yogi capital of Bali with a side of a monkey forest. For the movie lovers, Ubud is shown in “Eat, Pray, Love” and really does a great job showing the culture and arts of this hipster area.

Lazy Cat Cafe Entrance, Central Ubud

Ubud Temple Architecture

On a whim, we booked a one-night stay in a villa walking distance from central Ubud, packed a small backpack, and zipped ourselves up there on the motor scooter. This was, by far, the longest journey we made on the scooter that composed of 34 miles of local roads, highways, tolls, and bridges over the beautiful Bali Sea. Mind you, this was a 2 hour trek through towns, cow-filled country lands, traffic areas that we weaved through, and uneven terrain, but we flew through like the locals we were.

We arrived in Ubud before check-in to get a head start to the day. We dropped our bag at the villa and hit the town running. Ubud gives off a strong energy that you can feel, with lifted cafés overlooking the streets, detailed and vibrant architecture, busy roads, and people walking in every direction. There was one “touristy” place that we had been before and had to go back to, and that was the Sacred Monkey Forest… dun dun dunnnn. I absolutely fell in love with the monkeys last time (as much as they fell in love with me) and I had to catch up with the homies to see how they’ve been.

Warm welcome

Hello monkey

Entering the forest, the monkeys were everywhere, and the tourists were holding bananas above their heads begging for a monkey to jump on them. If anything, the furry friends of mine would run up their backs, rip the banana out of their hands and scurry off before the tourist's friend could take a picture of the act. Little did they know, the “Monkey Whisperer” was in the building. I went up to the first group of monkeys I saw, calmly put my arm up to them, looked them dead in the eye, and gave a little wink. With no exaggeration, these guys ran up on me, sat on my shoulders and arms, and chilled while random tourists jealously took pictures. “This guy doesn’t need bananas? Who does he think he is?” “None of your business, ma’am. Have a nice day.”

Monkey Whisperer

Secret Handshake

I gently let my friends hop off, and walked away. It was one of those "drop the mic, and walk off stage" moments. Chantal and I enjoyed walking around the monkey forest, taking a bunch of action shots of each other with our furry friends.

We built up an appetite from walking around the streets of Ubud and running with the monkeys, and I almost forgot about the fried duck that I have craved since our last trip to Ubud. I had to have the Bebek Fried Duck. Chantal researched the best spots for it, and we enjoyed an amazing duck dinner with huge geckos crawling above our heads. “Excuse me sir, is that huge reptile-looking thing real up there?” “Oh, it's just gecko.” Good ol’ Indonesia for ya.

We did Ubud right for the 24 hours we had there, and had an awesome villa to sleep in with my favorite bug nets that surrounded the bed. The villa was called Kampoeng Joglo Abangan, and I definitely recommend it for only $40/night. We embarked on our journey back to Uluwatu the next morning and traveled safe and sound, with a pit stop at a local McDonalds. For some reason, the McDoubles and Fish Fillet just tasted so much better in Indonesia. What a great trip, yet again!

Crispy Bebek (DUCK) at Cafe Wayan, Ubud

McDonalds Jimbaran

Batu Cave Beauty

We reserved our last full day in Kuala Lumpur for the Batu Caves hike, and we waited until the afternoon for the heat to die down.  Hundreds of steps lead hikers up into an ancient Hindu temple built into the limestone hillside about 15 minutes from the KL city center.  Activity in this hillside temple is said to date back 400 million years, though steps were first built in the 1920s.  A massive gold statue guards the entrance, and lively monkeys entertain the hikers on their way up into the temple.  Music and a prayer service were in session as we reached the top temple, and the sounds echoed through the caves.  Walking down the stairs gives a panoramic view of KL.  Overall, even though touristy, it was spectacular. 

KL Nightlife

After our Times Square experience (see previous blog) we needed a drink. Looking up a few spots, we landed on the most popular street, Jalan Ceylon, with restaurants, bars, and clubs all lined up next to each other. We sat down, had a few drinks, talked to a few of the employees, and people-watched. It was a really cool street, and the workers were telling us that at night, they block off the street as people are flooded everywhere until 3-4 a.m. As we relaxed from the mall madness, I did some research on where to view the Petronas Twin Towers at night. It seemed like a must do in KL. I found Sky Bar on top of the Traders Hotel that had the best view in town.

So there we went. We put on our best outfits and headed to the 33rd floor of Traders Hotel. We had to pay a little cover charge, but it included a free drink upon entry. Sky Bar had a long pool in the middle with lounges and bars surrounding, and did not disappoint with the view of the towers. All lit up, we took some amazing pictures, listened to great music, and enjoyed the view. After an hour or so, we decided to head back to Jalan Ceylon Street to see the madness at night.

We stopped at a restaurant called The Rabbit Hole where Chantal and I enjoyed our dinner until 2 girl employees ran up to Chantal, super giddy, thinking she was Celine Dion. They gave me their phone and said, "Can you take a picture of us and Celine?” “Sure, I guess.” It was absolutely hysterical seeing them pose with Chantal. Wearing heals, she could have been 2 feet taller than these girls. We had a good laugh with them and chatted for awhile.  Everyone we've met in Malaysia has been personable and excited to hear that we're from the U.S.  There are a lot of Brits, but we seemed to stand out.

After dinner, we walked down the street with music bumping from every bar. When we called it quits at 2 a.m., the street was in full swing.  

The Scenic Route to Central Market KL

There was not enough fuel in the world for our next adventure.  It seemed simple enough.  A mile from our lunch is a famous Central Market with hundreds of vendors; the city is one of the most diverse I've seen, with a huge Indian and Chinese influence, Islamic architecture splashed against a New York-esque skyline, and Hindu colors lighting up the streets.  We excitedly followed the path that maps.me set out for us.

Maps.me has been our navigational savior, as it doesn't require Internet connection but runs off of downloaded maps and GPS.  That being said, it seems to work a bit better for driving routes than walking paths.  When walking, the arrow will sometimes get confused and start turning in every direction.  Jay and I call this maps.me being upset. We don't want to make her upset. We want to stay on the path.  

Our path initially wound us up by the magnificent KL Tower.  We learned our lesson and didn't do the touristy ride to the top, but we stopped to enjoy the air conditioning for a minute.  Our first .3 miles of maps.me took us up a winding hill in the 90+ degree heat.  And then maps.me got upset.  

We couldn't figure out which way she wanted us to go; up by the iconic tower there were only a few paths, and she seemed to keep sending us down the backside of the mountain, through a sort of forest/park/jungle path.  Signs warned us about dangerous bugs and reptiles.  I told Jay I didn't feel like this path would lead us back to the streets and markets, but maps.me was insistent so that's the path we took.

We wound through trees and downhill through a beautiful natural park.  I heard the large KL freeway getting louder, and told Jay we may have to climb some trees or hop some fences, but we'd eventually get back on track.  Miraculously, an opening appeared at the bottom of the hill and we wound our way back to a main street.  We were still .5 miles away.  (I'm not sure maps.me is accurate in her distances when she is upset.)

Drenched in sweat, blistered feet, we made it to the Central Market.  It was everything I hoped it would be: outdoors vendors slinging knock off designer purses and watches, inside vendors boasting treasures from around the world, jewelry, art, music, food, colors, eager shop keepers.  There was so much life.

Chinese wonders

Turkish trinkets

outside market views

We took a cab back to our hotel (and it felt quite like New York city as the meter ran in stand-still traffic). Still, with the conversion, our taxi was only $5.  (Note: Make sure you always get a taxi with a meter when in Malaysia or they will concoct much higher prices for your fare.  You will pay them, because you will have blisters, dehydration from the heat and sweating, and exhaustion from the wonders that you just took in.)  The Central Market is a must. 

We capped off our first day in KL with a long nap and stop at our hotel rooftop before heading to dinner.  The KL Tower lit up at night is magical.  The colors change and the whole city seems to sparkle.  Lights are strung across the streets and inside closed shops.  Jay's peanut butter milkshake at funky eatery Gravy Baby (Bukit Bintang neighborhood) did not disappoint. 

KL SKYLINE

THE COLORS OF KL TOWER

Take the Long Way Home

Our stay at Canggu (pronounced CHAN-goo) came to an end and we set off on our way home, but not without some classic stops.  South of Canggu is Seminyak, where we had an epic brunch at Sisterfield, rated one of the best restaurants in Bali but completely unassuming on its corner.  Swanky and hip, the wifi password was “UlookGoodInBikini”- maybe not after eating there! 

My fried eggs had dill in them and between that and the smashed avocado I was in Heaven.  As if that wasn’t enough, we stumbled into MadPops ice cream shop and couldn’t resist their coconut ice cream on a cone.  More Heaven.  Later, we ducked into speakeasy-esque coffee shop, Revolver, hidden down an alley and it was like slipping into another time and continent. 

Seminyak has a hipster vibe to it, remixed with Bali classics like the fish pedicure.  Jay couldn’t resist that one.  We had some fun in the shops, pretty much said “yes” to everything, and had a perfect, casual Thursday afternoon.  Jay handled the crazy traffic like a local, performing a new trick that I call the “foot slap”- slipping between the curb and aggressive traffic, the bike becomes unstable during the weaving and the best way to combat this is to stretch out the leg closest to the curb and slap the flip-flopped foot repeatedly against it as you pray through the madness.  “Foot slap” makes a noise that I will not soon forget, but got us to Kuta for a great ramen dinner (we’ve been craving pho and found a great spot at Kuta Beach Walk) and home safely back to Uluwatu.

First small detour worth mentioning: On our way to Kuta we realized that the 3D Museum was close to us.  (If you’ve never used maps.me, it’s an AMAZING app that downloads maps and then navigates without wifi- we use it to get everywhere, and it’s perfect about 75% of the time.  Nothing a few “foot slaps” can’t handle, and it reveals interesting places like the 3D Museum.)  I know what you may be thinking…this sounds touristy.  Aren’t you the tourists who hate tourists?  Yes. To all claims.  They took our shoes, so barefoot and ticket paid we forged on. And the first few rooms were terribly lame.  The art is incredible, don’t get me wrong, but the poses are mostly ridiculous and the employees there to frame your photos seem about as excited as the Chuck-E-Cheese workers in America (without big furry mouse heads to hide their lack of enthusiasm inside).  However, we decided to go with it and ended up laughing hysterically and loving the goofy, terrible photos.  The optical illusions are pretty spectacular on some of them, and when you watch other tourists lay on the floors to get the shot you pretty much have to up your tourist game.  Done and done.

Another small detour worth mentioning: Before leaving Seminyak, a promoter stopped us.  He was wearing a Karma Beach shirt, which I recognized from beach parties advertised around town.  Jay had just gotten his feet exfoliated by fish, so we must have looked boujee. He handed us sealed promotional cards, which we opened to reveal “prizes”.  Jay won two t-shirts, but I got the golden ticket: a 7 night stay at one of the Karma Beach Villa Properties (Bali, Vietnam, Thailand, Germany, or India), a GoPro, or 2 million rupiah ($150 ish cash).  The only catch was that we had to scratch off the official prize AT the Karma Beach Jimbaran property, after a “short” presentation.

Jay said scam, but I think he was just bitter with his two t shirts.  So he humored me the following morning.  See next blog. 

A hint for how to find Revolver

That is not me getting braids in the background

sunset at kuta beach

Kecak

The Rolling Fork, Uluwatu

Our rainy week has continued, but we're making the most of it by trying amazing new restaurants, running in the rain, and surfing as much as possible.  

One of our favorite restaurants is called The Rolling Fork.  It opened the week we arrived, and has amazing homemade pastas, lava cake, and gelato.  Yesterday, Jay took advantage of the extended breakfast menu and got afternoon pancakes.  The lemongrass ginger tea is my favorite (mostly because it comes with cookies).  It's a must stop place if you're visiting Uluwatu.    

Yesterday was the opening ceremony of the Rip Curl Cup, where they announced the full list of invitees (Tom Curren and Bruce Irons are some of the international riders).  The contest theme is "When it's on, it's on" and it means just that- the surfers stay in Uluwatu from July 10-August 10 and as soon as Padang Padang shows epic conditions the contest starts.  

They brought up a bunch of the local surfers who have won in the past, including Mega Semadhi, the champion from last year. Interestingly enough, he's in training to become an Indonesian priest.  All of the local riders are super humble and it was clear from the opening ceremony that Padang Padang is a special place, with many spiritual ties.  Monkeys swing from the trees above the stairs that cascade down the cliff, which creates an amphitheater leading into one of the best surf breaks in the world.  There's a special power and energy there.

To conclude the opening ceremony of the surf contest, dozens of dancers appeared to perform the traditional Kecak Fire Dance.  I'll never forget the sound they make, and we hope you can hear it from this short video.  

The white monkey was my favorite, though at one point he was carrying a Bintang around and I don't think the beer was part of the customary Hindu performance and story. 

Tomorrow we're heading north along the western coast of Bali to explore Seminyak, Kuta, and Canggu.  Have a beautiful week and pray for sunshine.