Trip To Bali and Bali Orchid Garden

Valerie and Jerry Heath

Our trip to Bali was a five day trip in the middle of our three week stay in Asia.  We went to Bali by Thai Air from Bangkok, and returned to Bangkok after five days.

Bali Sunrise

At the beginning of our trip we were at the Bali Hyatt in Sanur.  We saw much of the sights there but wanted to go to Ubud, which, we were told, was the tourist destination of Bali.  One trouble, we were out of money.  We had planned to use our credit card and did not take much cash.  That was a mistake as it is not advisable, these days, to show your credit card to all kinds of merchants.

Bali Tourist Map

So we needed money first and then to arrange getting to Ubud for one day and then return to the Bali Hyatt for the last day of our trip.  The problem was we did not know our PIN number for our credit cards.  And we found that few banks would do a currency “exchange” on a credit card.   You can do it on an ATM if you know your PIN.  I finally left Valerie at a nice restaurant and took a long walk to find a bank that would make such a transaction.  After many frustrations with banks I thought that I might get the exchange from a hotel that had currency exchange at the front desk.  Our own hotel had currency exchange separate from the front desk.  I did find such a hotel and I was right, they would make the conversion on a credit card for a fee.  At that point they could have charged me any fee they wanted, but the fee here was only 3%, and the exchange rate was pretty good.

So I finally had the cash I needed and started back to the restaurant where Valerie was eating and reading the guide books.  Immediately I was approached (almost accosted) by a man who wanted to sell me a trip to Ubud.  We had checked the prices earlier and the more organized tours were $50 just to go to Ubud.  Then if you wanted any other site, each site added another $25 to the cost.  This fellow was saying he could take us to Ubud and numerous other sights, all for $30.

Our Bali Guide

Our Guide's Business Card

The most important part was his good English.  We had been on tours where we did not know what was happening because the guide had such poor English.  I did not like this person's pushiness but it was a good deal for the price and we would have a guide with such good English.

He went and found his driver and they drove me back to Valerie.  Valerie always thinks of questions I don’t think of, so I emphasized to them that she would have to agree.  So we ended up with an agreement for them to takes us on this tour of Bali that would end up at Ubud.  The tour included a Balinese dance; a Hindu shrine; textile, wood carving, painting, jewelry, and sculpture art demonstrations and sales; the volcano and lake; agriculture such as cocoa, coffee, and rice; and then on to Ubud where they would recommend a hotel.

Barong and the Monkey God

Hindu Shrine in Bali

Waxing Process for Batik

Weaving in Bali

Painter Grinding His Own Paint

Painting and Other Art on Sale in Bali

Sorting Gems

Bali Sculptors

Magnificant Asian Horse Statue

Bali Volcano and Lake

Roasting Coffee by Hand

Bali Rice

It was a wonderful and interesting tour.  And the hotel the guide recommended was very good and a very good price so we took it.  It was a bungalow hotel which is common in Ubud.  The bungalow is like one of the small buildings of a shrine, only here it was set up as a separate room for tourists.

Our Ubud Bungalo

We did our shopping at Ubud.  That is what Ubud is all about.  There are also museums but they are really just expensive shops.  Our guide was to return the next day at 4 PM and take us back to Sanur for $10 more.

As we started back the guide asked us if there was anything else we would like to see.  I decided to ask to see how orchids were grown in Bali.  He talked to the driver and we went on.  Suddenly we were at the Bali Orchid Garden.  It was set up to be a tourist sight but did not appear to have many tourists.  It was new.  The guide came in with us to see what it was, but then left.  The Bali Orchid Garden was an extremely interesting place for anyone interested in Orchids.

View of Bali Orchid Garden

Bali Orchid Garden Pamphlet

The most interesting thing I saw was terrestrial Vandas.  They had Vandas grown in the air also.  But these terrestrial Vandas were grown in a pile of coconut segments (an old coconut cut in about for sections).  The pile was then covered by wood flakes.  These were apparently from the sculptors that were nearby.  They were dark brown and appeared fresh, they might need changing often.  Of course they were of good hardwood from sculpting so they may stay fresh a long time.

Note Terrstrial Vandas (note the growing medium)

They also had a large collection of "Bird of Paradise" plants.

Bali Orchid Garden also has a Bird of Paradise Collection

The show orchids were often just stapled to a tree.

Orchids Stapled to a Tree

Some orchids were in the open and others were under shade screens.  The orchids stapled to a tree did not need a shade cloth as they had to tree for shade.

Shade Cloth for Some Orchids (Cats plus others)

Valerie with Bali Vandas

Jerry with Bali Orchids

Vandas that look a little like corn.

The Heaths at Bali Orchid Gardens

Valerie at Bali Orchid Gardens

An Orchid Stapled to a Tree

More Terrestrial Vandas

Bali Orchid Gardens also had a sales area.  We did not buy any orchids here since we did not have the papers nor did they have anything set up for exporting to the USA.  They had flasked orchids, which should not be a problems since they are sterile, but we were not ready to try to explain that to customs in the USA.

Bali Orchid Garden Showroom

My last picture, here, shows some young Balinese learning the Balinese dance.  This is a scene I saw when I was walking through Ubud.

Learning Balinese Dance