I fully intended on writing another post about life in Chiang Mai and how we had acclimated to life abroad, including getting job offers, figuring out the subtle nuances of Thai culture like their disdain for confrontation, finding out how to get the local’s price for admission, and how to pass a police checkpoint without paying a bribe. But honestly, we left Thailand at a rather unpleasant time and felt more than ready to leave. Between the terrible smoke that left us house bound for days and the fact that all of our friends had left six weeks before, there wasn’t much left for us there. We counted down the days until Ben’s teaching job concluded and then hopped aboard the first flight out there. I am happy to be moving on, although I will miss watching Ben eat mysterious chewy gut morsels from the vendor down the street and being able to hop on a public bike with a kid in an ergo on my back.
But whenever I get nostalgic, I remember that if we hadn’t left we wouldn’t have stumbled across the Gili Islands in Indonesia. I get most of my inspiration for our adventures these days from all of the travel families that I follow on Instagram. A few people had posted epic pictures of white sand beaches, turquoise waters, gorgeous sunsets so a few internet searches later, some negotiation with a driver/boat company and off we went to Gili Trawangan, off the coast of Lombok, Indonesia.
We loved it from the moment we arrived. The tropical island is petite. No motorized vehicles are allowed but it can be circumnavigated in less than 2 hours on a bike, faster if you don’t stop for drum circles and beers on the beach. Aside from bikes, the main mode of transportation is the “cidomo,” a horse-drawn cart. The jingling bells and the clip-clop of the horses’ hooves can be heard as they trot down the street, and the lack of scooter noise and congestion is a rarity in Southeast Asia. The horses haul tourists, heaping piles of luggage, building materials, trash and anything else that needs to be moved about the island. The main street follows the waterline and is lined with restaurants featuring hamburgers, pizza and pasta, as well as Indonesian favorites like gado-gado (steamed veggies with peanut sauce) and mie goreng (glorified ramen noodles with veggies and a fried egg on top), and a bakery—much to Falcon’s delight.
We spent a relaxing five days eating breakfast overlooking the ocean and the islands beyond, swimming in the seaside pool and riding bikes. The kids happily played in the white sand making crab condos out of the coral and shells. The island is also home to a large number of sea turtles that swim in the shallows and poke their heads out of the water periodically to breathe. Ben and I took turns snorkeling while the other multitasked as a turtle spotter and foreman for various crustacean construction projects.
Falcon’s crab condo 
Horse carts of Gili T
As comfortable as the beach was, we decided to hire a private glass bottom boat to take us to a few of the best snorkeling spots. Since the kids don’t like to get their faces wet, they were able to see the tropical fish and sea turtles through the glass while Ben and I took turns in the water. It was a really nice way to involve the kids in our activity and Blue even swam with us in the ocean with her floaties. (Usually, our activities are mutually exclusive–either kid or adult centered- so finding something that met all of our needs was really a parenting win!) The neighboring island of Gili Meno is home to a few really cool sunken statues that I didn’t even realize were on my bucket list until we arrived in Indonesia. Our guides really went overboard (pun intended) to earn their $60 and managed to shew away about 30 sunburned snorkelers so the kids could get a glimpse of the statue through their little sea window as we drifted over it in the boat. Click here to see the statue.
Up next on our Indonesian itinerary was the lush, hipster tourist town of Ubud on the island of Bali, Indonesia. For those in search of spiritual healing, chakra alignment, sexual awakening, demystifying energy, finding your oneness, basically anything alternative and witchy, Ubud is the place. It was highly recommended by our friends who became breathwork shamans there last year. So naturally we had to check it out. And it was lovely…mostly. We hired a driver for a day to take us to the rice terraces, a coffee plantation and a temple at a pace the kids could keep up with. We walked through the local art market, and with an embarrassing number of bribes of ice cream and extra iPad time for the kids, we were able to take about a one-hour hike in the forest.
When we still liked monkeys 
Kara on the rice terrace swings
We also made the mistake of taking our small children to the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary. The sheer number of monkeys that freely roam this jungle pathway is absurd. Not to mention, they are used to praying on tourists for supplemental snacks and have no problem scampering up your legs, rifling through any pocket and taking your stuff. Whether it be food, sunscreen, an article of clothing or your phone—if they take it, you let it go or be ready to brawl with a tooth-baring primate and 200 of his buddies. All of our research said that it was a good place to take kids. It was recommended by friends of friends and there were plenty of pictures online of children enjoying it. The entrance lived right up to all our expectations. Macaques climbed through the trees and groomed each other and their babies within feet of crowds. But the monkeys became more brazen as we moved deeper into the forest and away from the caretakers with slingshots. At one point, we were confronted by a monkey on the trail who beelined toward Falcon. Of course, things escalated within seconds as the kids started shrieking and moving quickly to escape—all things that the sign at the front said not to do. Ben grabbed Blue while I tried in vain to shield Falcon, which the monkey rightly assumed was an act of aggression. I couldn’t pick him up and risk not having hands free so ended up burying Falcon’s face tightly against my legs in an effort to get him to avoid fighting should the monkey jump on us. In the end, the monkey let us off with a warning bite to Falcon’s pants as we huddled together. Then thankfully it allowed us to retreat in one petrified, crying huddle back out of the forest. Falcon, for one, is counting down the days until we board a plane bound for anywhere outside of the realm of monkeys and “traveling dogs,” as he goes into full-blown panic mode at even the mere sight of one now.
As it turned out, it wasn’t spiritual healing that we needed in Ubud, but real honest-to-God medical care. As if trapped in the movie Final Destination, we narrowly avoided a calamity with the monkey only to visit the emergency room the next day. I thought that the kids would be taken down by a scooter while crossing the street, or a jellyfish, or food poisoning, but alas, it was a one-inch step into a coffee shop that sent Blue hurdling face-first into a metal chair. Blue managed to avoid hitting her nose, her teeth and her upper lip but obliterated the gums above her front teeth in the bloodiest fall to date. Her pain tolerance must be through the roof because she didn’t complain at all despite having bone exposed. If fact, I didn’t even realize that the wound was so bad until she fell asleep that night and I thoroughly inspected it with a headlamp. Once at the emergency room, the doctor cleaned it and applied antibiotic ointment and she healed within a week. Crisis barely averted. The ambulance ride, visit with the doctor, and medicine cost us about 2 hours and $50, but it reinforced why we went to the trouble to obtain extra medical insurance and get all of the recommended travel vaccinations.
More on Bali to come. And if anyone is interested in seeing a photo of Blue’s wound, just message me. I love gory things but I know that not everyone else does.
Under 6 Overseas 