As I related yesterday, probably one of the finest people I have met, holidays or otherwise, would have to be MONTY. Monty is 72 years young, lives north of London where he runs his own little business doing airport transfers and pick ups. Monty is about 5'9" tall, fairly built and about as fit as my 76 year old mum who can beat me in an arm wrestle any day of the week. He came over to Bali to visit his daughter Emma, who has worked in Bali for close to 2 years. I actually can't remember our initial meeting as we just picked up together and started eating, drinking, doing nightclubs and it now seems like I have known him for years. Monty was spending a bit of his time alone as Emma's job kept pulling them apart but she did take him out to restaurants and stuff as well as a couple of days out in a boat (out of Benoa I think). I remember one night we had been to the Bounty to listen to a Drum Band that we had been told about. They were fantastic. Talk about TRIBAL. The beat was sensational and the music was all produced by means of percussion. Everyone in the place was either up dancing or slapping the tables with their fingers in time to the throbbing beat. Monty had a grin from ear to ear the whole time. Also, the band had a spare drum and seat set up on the stage and invited members of the audience to play the drum or pick up one of the other instruments, such as tambourine or block of wood with beating stick. There is probably a name for it but I don't know it. The band consisted of about 8 or 9 guys and I think maybe 1 girl or she might have just been the dancer. Every body was totally infected by the music and it was a crying shame when it ended. After they finished me and Monty, and Tony and Toni went over the road to listen to another live band that were playing almost on the street. Fair dinkum this place was so packed and noisey it was infectious all over again. One moment Monty was standing right next to me and when I looked again he had been dragged into the throng by a Young lady (40 ish), and he was bopping away with the best of 'em. Monty was a professional muso back in the 60's so I imagine he could appreciate a good band. Anyhoo, after several songs Monty's somewhat inebriated dancing partner flaked out and dropped straight across the keyboard but I will say the rest of the band kept playing. The young lady was summarily placed onto the back of a motor bike, the driver/rider bloke was given 10,000 Rp. and told to deliver her to her hotel by someone from her party. I do wonder if she got home safely. Monty was not at all concerned but started looking thru the crowd for his next victim. The day we left Bali, he left about 6 hours after me, he still reckoned it was the best night of his Bali trip.
Monty's best day.... after a few days of togetherness I informed Monty that the one thing I had promised myself whilst in Bali was the Bali Bike Ride. From BTF and JBR's I had read a bit about this attraction and was eager to do it. Due to all of my unknown Dental committments I had not planned to do a lot of things and thought I would just wing it with whatever days I had free. Well, Monty was positively beside himself with anticipation and said he seriously wanted to do it with me if I didn't mind. Absolutely.
We were picked up from our hotel at 7 AM. and taken to Ubud where we picked up another 8 riders from Holland. When we were picked up at the hotel there were another couple from Holland already on the slightly second hand bus. All together making 12 people heading up to Kintomani for breakfast at the Hotel overlooking the mountain and its lake. We didn't arrive until about 11.00 AM because of unusual traffic but the breakfast was good and simple and one of the guides was filling us in whilst we ate with some of the history from the area nearby which was qiute interesting. Apparently the tribe who live down at the waters edge below us do not take kindly to uninvited guests, even to the point that they encouraged marriage between 1st cousins in some attempt to keep outsiders out. We were warned that if someone strayed into their village they could expect to be involved in a game of soccer with their head being used as the ball. It seemed funny that only a few hundred metres away from their village we could see small trucks passing by and struggling up a very steep road with loads of rock and gravel that were clearly far too heavy for the strength and size of them. It was obvious that these small trucks were about the only thing that could have negotiated the tight hairpin bends anyway. Once we finished our breakfast we jumped back into our bus and headed half way back to Ubud where we were driven a little bit off the main road and entered a field where we could see our transport for the day (mountain bikes) standing in a bunch waiting for us patiently. The bikes were all in good condition and each had a helmet dangling off the handle bars though most of us opted not to wear one. It was a particularly hot and humid day. I can't remember if I had shoes and socks on but I think I did.(Must look at photos). We were all told to pick a bike and were helped to make adjustments quickly particularly regarding seat height and leg stretch and were told that we could ride at our own pace as the back up truck and bus and another van would follow behind the slowest and if anybody wanted they could quit at ant time and jump back into the bus.We were told to stop at anytime to take photos as we saw fit and we were soon under way and as promised it was approx. 20 kilometres almost entirely DOWNHILL. (I'm not stupid am I?) The Dutch people took off like they were late for something and Monty and I looked quizzingly at each other and shrugged before taking off leisurely and almost immediately started to enjoy the cool breeze of our own making while at the same time enjoying the beautiful country side presented from this back road. I will admit that the condition of the road was not all that impressive but about half way or perhaps a bit sooner the road became as smooth as a suburban Melbourne main road. (It was good). As we progressed down the road we caught up with the lead Olympians who had been stopped by our intrepid tour leader to listen to a talk about a nearby Paddy field that he took us into. It was quite interesting information regarding how the rice is grown, harvested and shared within the community and how each family has a section of the field and how the field(s) is owned and operated. We had only travelled a few kilometres at this stage but it turned out to be one of about 6 times we stopped at "attractions" and listened eagerly to the excellent commentary provided. At each stop we were handed lovely cold bottles of sealed water to keep us hydrated. As we wound our way down hill, always with one hand resting on the handbrake, we passed thru some of the greenest, most lushest country side and with hardly a vehicle to bother us and very few motor bikes to watch out for, it was bliss on a stick. We rode into villages mostly without stopping but proceeded quite slowly as all of the kids would line the roads in nearly all of them so that you could slap their eager little hands as you rode past.This of course was only after you had mastered the art of one handed steering as it had been about 200 years or so since my arse had been near a bike. Most of these village kids did not speak English but, they could all manage "What yur name?" I nearly fell off my bike laughing as all I could hear behind me was "Hello,... Monty, Hello,... Monty, Hello,... At times it was just "Hello,... Hello,... Hello,... I'm sure Monty felt just like Santa Claus arriving at the picnic ground. I could hear the smile on his face as he made his way down the road behind me. He was having the time of his life. About half way thru our ride we stopped in one of the MANY villages and took up residence in the town meeting place to listen to our guide tell us all about the magnificent temple that was over the road and about the ceremonies that were held there. All the while we were riding thru these villages and passing all of the magnificent family compounds and temples, I kept asking myself how such obviously poor people could afford to build them, even tho realising that some of them were many years old. Nobody could really explain it but I am reminded of back home where every little town or settlement always had a church or sometimes a cathedral. How did they build the Pyramids?
At some point near to the finish of our ride we had a stop at the side of the road, with more cold drinks, and we were told that the next couple of kilometres would be pretty much up hill (It turned out to be about 5 kilometres or more so we were invited to rejoin the motorised transport if we liked or to continue on our bikes. Only two of the Dutch guys, who one of their ladies told us both run marathons back home, continued via the crutch paralysers. The only person who completed the gruelling uphill battle was our guide who seriously didn't look that fit but made it all the way without dismounting. At the end of the road was the bit that I was really looking forward to and was the reason I decided not to challenge for outright victory. The end of the road on this day had a very authentic Balinese feast waiting for us. I didn't want to be too stuffed or dead on the side of the road to enjoy what I had heard was (and proved to be) a fantastic feed. This took place at the family compound of our hosts ,Wayan and his wife, She who cooked our sumptuous meal , and he told us more of the ways in which things are done in Bali and answered a heap of questions about his life and family before we were invited to wander about the compound before we were returned to our hotels. In our case, Monty and I got back to the Barong a bit after 4.00 PM. Before leaving Wayan , who was very interested in the fact that I was a frequent visitor to the BTF asked me if I had enjoyed my day and would I give him a good rap on the Forum. I assured him that I would be posting and that indeed I would be reporting on what was by far the best day I had had in Bali. So there. For those who are interested, and I do thoroughly recommend it, despite the cost, Bike-Baik Bali Countryside Tours 0361-978052 , E-mail wayansujana@yahoo.com . Website www.balibike.com
As I left Wayan I suggested to him that the cost of the day was reasonable at 350,000 Rp. but I thought that the surcharge of 100,000Rp. for pick up from Kuta was steep. The price of 350,000 is for pickup from Ubud. As we were two of four people picked up from Kuta, someone is making a Bali fortune out of picking up customers from Party central. There may be room to barter the price down when booking your day out.
Monty reckoned it was HIS best day and he had a glow about him for the rest of the night. Maybe it was just exertion but he couldn't wait to ring back to England to tell the lovely Doreen about his BIG DAY OUT and the kids and the feast, he was busting out of his skin.
About 2 days before we parted I overheard Monty saying to his wife back home something about the bloke from Australia. When we came back from tea that night we were standing out the front of the Barong watching the passing parade when I said to Monty, "You know Monty, in Australia, if you spend time with a bloke and you like him then he is your mate, and I have to say Monty that I like you." Well, I thought he was gonna cry. He put his arm around my shoulder and said it was the nicest moment of his WHOLE holiday. I think it might have been mine too. There is still more if you want it. Bill