My Dad's younger brother, Dale, has been living in Bali on and off for about the last 20 years or so, maybe longer. As a young traveller myself I remember thinking how exotic it all sounded to move to a place so far away from anything familiar and how exciting it must be to start a new life somewhere so foreign, so far away and all alone. Bali? Who goes to Bali? I had no idea what Uncle Dale did when he was there as he was a bit of a free spirit and just seemed to "disappear". No one in our family seemed to know much about why he left and his whole existence seemed a bit of a mystery. He left before the invention of the internet and he wasn't into postcards so we never heard much from him; in my mind he just vanished. The fact that Dale chose a life south of the equator on an island in Indonesia just became one of those family things that didn't really get talked about much. Years would go by without even a mention of how Uncle Dale was doing, probably because no one knew.
I had questions....what did he do for work? Where and how did he live? Of all the places in the world to live, why did he choose Bali? Who did he live with? How often did he return to his hometown of Vancouver? Questions, questions.
Consequently, Bali has been on my radar for 20 years or so and I always thought it would be super cool to visit while Dale ( I just call him Dale, not Uncle Dale. I barely know the guy and " Uncle" just seems too familiar ) was living there.
Now, it turns out that Dale doesn't spend as much time in Bali as he used to so when the opportunity to visit him here came up we changed our plans to see the Philippines and boarded a plane to Denpasar, Bali, instead! Bowen was very excited to hang out with another one of his Grandpa's brothers ( we hooked up with his youngest brother, Gordie
remember here, in Thailand back in January) and I knew I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get to know Dale better and possibly have some of my questions answered.
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| Nope, we are NOT living like backpackers anymore!The Grand Kumala Resort makes us very, very happy! |
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| Bowen says Dale is the perfect blend of all the Shabens " he looks like Grandpa but he rides a motorbike!" |
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| We visited the bird market. These poor little creatures we taken away from their mothers way too early so had to hand fed. |
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| Owl in a bag? This tops my list of the saddest sights in all of South East Asia. The bags you see on the right had owls in them as well. Each sold for about $15. |
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| What a beautiful creature. I wanted to buy them all just to be able to release them. |
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| We are about to get our motors running and follow Dale and Wayan ( Dale's driver/friend) up one end of the island to the other. |
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| This ornate paper mache bull will be filled with a human body and burned at the next cremation ceremony happening on July 21. Only the very rich can afford such a lavish vessel into the afterlife. |
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| Tegallalang Rice Terraces - A UNESCO World Heritage Site. This was the beginning of Liz's love affair with rice terraces. |
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| Dale is looking at leasing this restaurant space right across the street from this famous and highly coveted view. We had lots of ideas for him. The first was to paint over all that pink. |
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| Bowen's shoe got stuck in the mud and broke so it's just Remy and me for the beautiful walk through the paddies. |
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| The engineering of the irrigation system is a wonder to behold. |
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| What lovely creatures lurk in these paddies! |
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| Wow! |
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| Our lunchtime view at the fanciest place in town is still less than $4 each! |
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| Rules for entering the temple. Menstruation is deemed dirty and therefore unholy. |
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| The temple as seen from the highway. It's views like this that make me understand why Dale loves Bali so much. |
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| Yes officer, I have my International Drivers License right here, I think! |
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Marigolds growing between the trees.
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Dale took us on this epic 11 hr ride so he could share some of the places he holds dear to his heart. He spread some of the ashes of of his older brother, Ron (my Dad's twin), on the other side of the crater lake.
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| Mt Bature is an active volcano that last erupted in 1968. The lava field is still visible as you can see and apparently the crater lake is a good source of fish. |
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| Some friendly faces along the way. I love the traditional orange udeng worn by the man on the right. The wearing of the udeng is becoming more popular all the time. |
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| Dale is showing Wayan where he spread Ron's ashes. |
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| We stopped at this beautiful roadside restaurant/resort for lunch |
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| The rooms at the resort come with a telescope for viewing the crater so you can make a quick exit if you see smoke. |
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| I could wake up to this view everyday- no problem |
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| A meditation platform built right into the front of the resort building. Clever |
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| Even the doorways are beautiful |
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| I'll take door #1 |
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| Family shot in front of Mt Batur |
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| A pretty cool Ganesh with a skull! |
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| This is typical Balinese design and architecture used at our hotel. |
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| Dale knows how to live and we are so happy being here with him. |
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| Oh ya, the BEACH! there is so much to see and do in Bali the beach has become an afterthought. We only ever made it down for a cocktail and some awesome live music at sunset. |
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Peanuts anyone? yes please!
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Today is day two of our island tour with Dale and Wayan. Yesterday was too hard on our asses so today Wayan will drive us in a van and Dale will lead on his motorbike and we have brought an overnight bag. We ended up stopping for lunch at the Matahari Resort which I am sure is one of the poshest places on the island with prices to match. Thanks Dale for picking up the tab!!
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| Somewhere underneath all these baskets is a bike and a driver. |
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| Bali is like one big Secret Garden. Even the walls are ornate and oh so interesting. |
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| Hard at work planting rice |
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| So many shades of green |
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The gardens are planted all the way up the side of the hill.
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| The bride was very pleased that I wanted to take a photo. |
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| A highway rest stop, Balinese style. |
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| TV and Internet Room.......music to a teenagers ears! At the Matahari Resort for lunch. |
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| A beautiful lumbung - rice storage hut -at the Matahari resort. Rice is serious business here in Bali. |
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| Even the butter gets special treatment with it's own woven cover. |
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| The black sand beach view while we waited for lunch. Yes, Tim M, I brought some home for you. |
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| It's good to know beautiful food can be found in Bali but we still prefer the street stalls. It was delicious though! |
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| Wayan, Dale and Remy being cool even when it's HOT. |
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| Look out, Bowen! There is a dragon behind you. |
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| Same goes for you, Dale!! |
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| I huge garuda in the lobby of our hotel for the night. We wish we had room to bring one of these home. |
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| Welcome drinks are popular and are just another thing we love about Bali. |
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| Life is pretty sweet hey Bowen? |
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| Just what we needed after a long day of touring. I gotta say, Dale knows how to do it up right. |
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Dale and I watched the sunset together while Remy and Bowen did math by the pool. This was where I got all my answers to the questions I had about Dale's life. I can't think of a better place to get to know my long lost Uncle. Ya, I'm calling him Uncle now!
We have fallen in love with Bali. As a result we have given up our plan to visit the Philippines all together and will move to Ubud and find a home to rent for a month!! Uncle Dale returns to Canada in a few days so we will be on our own to explore this mysterious and wonderful place. There is way more to uncover here and we are not nearly ready to leave just yet.
Uncle Dale is an interesting guy and now we have a much better understanding of why he left Canada in the first place and why he felt compelled to return to Bali time and time again. I think we are hooked too.
~Liz
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