Downhill, Uphill

It’s very hot in the mornings. I see why so many ex-pat women just let it all hang out. When you’ve been in this weather for a long time, you just stop caring. I want to run around naked, but I don’t like having any of my body parts be seen to hang, swing, or jiggle.

But Monday was different. It was overcast and cool, the perfect day for cycling. The Bali Eco Cycling and Education Tour is the most well-organized outfit I have ever encountered. We took a bicycle tour with them and enjoyed it tremendously. The tour touts a 2.5-hour downhill ride through rice paddies, villages, and the real Bali, a side of Bali that tourists often don’t see. They were true to their word.

The guide was an exquisite blend of teacher, proud Balinese, and athlete. For our tour, there were only five of us. They usually go with many more, up to 40 people, and have done up to 100 for special occasions. We had the guide all to ourselves. Despite the small number of participants, they still dispatched a passenger van to pick up riders who conk out before the ride finishes, and a truck with extra bikes and to pick up the bikes of those who conk out. So that’s three guides and two vehicles for the five of us.

We were picked up from our hotel and taken to breakfast at a restaurant overlooking Mt. Batur volcano. It was an incredible view. You get a panoramic view of the black lava ash draped on one side of the volcano from the last eruption in 1963 and at the foot of the volcano, the houses and villages that have been rebuilt since then. You see where the lake meets land and how close the volcano and villages are to water.

Our guide shared with us information about Balinese culture and history, as well as Bali's issues and concerns, mainly environmental protection and income generation. “We are a culture of animism,” he said, “We believe spirits live in everything and we must make offerings to them so the good spirits protect us and ensure we live in harmony and peace.” He asked how our visit to Bali has been so far and whether we have any complaints. He said it’s important to the Balinese to know that visitors have been treated well. It’s a matter of pride, and Indonesia, especially Bali relies on tourism for income.

As part of the tour, we visited a coffee plantation. It was an incredible outfit. I tasted lemongrass tea, ginseng coffee, and hot chocolate – the best I’ve ever had anywhere. We were also given Balinese fruit to sample. By now, I’ve had their fruit, though I still can’t pronounce their names. But the fruit they offered on this plantation were sweeter and juicer than any I’ve had.

The ride continued through breathtakingly beautiful scenery. In villages, children in uniforms on their way home from school gave us high fives as we rode by. It was a game to them, to see how many slaps on the hand they get, and a test of my balance and maneuvering skills to ride single-handed and do the high five at the same time.

Even adults look up from their work and call out hello to us. The men are usually digging ditches, or repairing a building, or manning a shop. The women are usually walking to the rice fields with baskets on their heads, or they are making bamboo mats at the side of their house.

Even though it was supposedly a downhill ride, the tour went downhill for about one and a half hours. The last hour was mostly uphill, though seemingly just slight inclines. But after half an hour of the uphill riding, I was dripping with sweat, my breathing in heaves, my face flushed and bright red, and I was more off balance than usual. A couple of times, I looked ahead and saw blurry. So I stopped riding for fear of collapsing, so glad the vans were following.

Ten minutes later, one of the Danish riders got picked up. Ten minutes after that, The Man got picked up. The driver said, “Don’t worry, you did well. Half of the people don’t finish. The Chinese and Japanese always stop when the incline starts. Only the Dutch always finish.” He was right about that. The two who finished was the Danish man and the Dutch woman, both much younger than The Man and me, just so you know.

We were taken to a restaurant and served the best food I have had so far in Indonesia. Despite stopping the ride early, I felt great, and fit, because it was really good exercise, and the whole experience was so positive. I didn't mind being a tourist, not only because the Balinese are treating us well, but because I know that I contribute to Bali's economy when I go to restaurants, buy souvenirs, stay at hotels. The Balinese provide services with such class and good nature that I don't feel I am exploiting them. It is straight fee for service with pride.