Zachary Hunter's Bali Report Part 2
Day 1
May 11
Elephant Park
When I woke up I could see what Bali looked like. The first thing I got to see was a large rice field. I hadn't ever seen a rice field before. We went to eat breakfast quickly, because my dad had planned that our family would go to the elephant park. We didn't know this, so it was a surprise to all us kids until the driver came and explained where we were going and what we were going to do. It was a 40-minute drive from the hotel to the elephant park. On the way to the park, I saw many more rice fields. These rice fields were not on flat ground, like at the hotel. They were neatly terraced.
We arrived at the park and were amazed at the amount of elephants that were there. First we ate a buffet lunch in the restaurant that overlooked the elephants' large swimming pond. It was so cool! As kids, we were eager to go and see the elephants right away. The problem was that my dad wanted to eat all he could possibly get out of that buffet! After a while, we kids went down to see the elephants while my parents finished their lunch. It was so exciting to actually be able to pet a real elephant! The elephants in the park were one of the friendliest types of elephants in the world. They were brought to Bali from Sumatra, because Bali does not have any elephants of its own.
We were able to ride the elephants at last, after my parents had finally finished eating, or were kicked out of the restaurant. My mom got to ride on her own elephant named Yantse (Yan-see). I rode with my sister, Naomi, on an elephant named Eva. My dad and Wesley rode on another elephant named Boris. The elephants were rather slow, but that gave us an opportunity to take pictures of the beautiful surroundings. We rode our elephants on farm trails that took us beside rice fields with people planting or harvesting their crops. It was a great ride.
At the end of the ride, we went to the next event, which was an elephant show. There were three elephants in the show. The elephants did many entertaining tricks. They would stand on two legs, hold each other's tail, walk across a large log, play soccer, shoot basketball, spray water at the onlookers, place their feet on the rear of the elephant in front of them, and pick up the trainers with their trunk and tusks. (Don't worry. They will not pick you up.) When the show finished, we spent about an hour getting our pictures taken with the elephants. After we had taken pictures, we spent a little more time petting the elephants. Then we had to pull ourselves away from them and go back to the car, which had been waiting for us the whole time we were in the park.
On the way back to the hotel I started to feel sick in my stomach. When we got back to the hotel that evening, I was feeling better, so I ate supper with my family, and then went swimming in the pool. My sister was happy because she got the room again. The truth is that I let her think she got her way, when actually I didn't want that room anyhow. I was enjoying my air-conditioned room downstairs, and I didn't want her trying to take this room away by whining again to Mom and Dad. My dad says that now I'm thinking like a real man.
Day 2
May 12
Bali Belly
The next day my family and I went sightseeing around Ubud with our driver, Wayan. All that I really could remember about the trip was that I felt really sick. I just lay in the back of the truck so I didn't get to see very much. We went to a temple that my dad wanted to take some pictures of. The temple was a long ways down from the parking lot, so I had to walk down a lot of stairs. I was OK while going down the stairs, but when we were going back up, I felt so sick that I almost passed out. My dad had to give me a piggyback ride back to the top of the stairs. We drove back to the hotel and I went to sleep. My mom stayed with me to make sure everything would be OK. Dad, Naomi, and Wesley went to the monkey forest, and came back later to check on us. Wes stayed behind so he could go swimming while my dad and Naomi went to the elephant cave. (Not part of the elephant park.) Later that evening, when I was feeling better, we all went into Ubud to get some pictures developed and to eat. I still wasn't feeling good enough to eat very much food. Fortunately a good night sleep helped me feel better for the next day's activities.
In my next report I will talk about our third day on Bali and our visit to the Bali Bird Park. It will also include the Barong Dance in Ubud.