R and R in Bali
Article & photos by Mike Selig


Traditional local in Bali

印度尼西亚的"神仙岛"--巴厘岛,由于地处热带, 且受海洋的影响, 四季绿水青山, 万花烂漫, 林木参天. 在岛上, 通常可以看到这样几种度假的人群: 山路上背着行囊、脚踩单车的环岛人; 街市中身着宽松衣衫、闲散逛街的观光者; 海边细沙绵延, 悠闲享受日光浴的游客......这些足以让厦门WECL学院的老师Mike Selig将生活节奏立即调整到最慢、最舒适的状态, 得到身心的彻底放松.

Bali was the right place to visit after spending 10 days in Borneo hiking and doing other adventure type activities, such as exploring the flora and fauna endemic to the mountain areas, rainforests and jungles of Borneo. Most travelers know Bali as an exotic holiday destination which is noted for its beaches, snorkeling, diving and also shopping for the many unique Balinese apparel, arts and crafts products.

Our Bali vacation was spent mostly on the east coast in Lovina and Amed along with a trip to the interior to Ubud. We initially chose the east coast to avoid the "hustle and bustle" of the larger townships of Kuta, and Denpasar and to see the many thousand of fishes and invertebrate species that have been catalogued and thriving there according to the promotional material we read before our trip. The east coast of Bali is also noted for having one of the most diverse coral ecosystems in the world-especially off the island of Manjaga-and it proved to be just what it was advertised to be for those who love to snorkel and dive.


Monument for the people killed in the Bali bombing

We stayed at a nice beachside resort but it had its negative aspects too. Bali, like many other places in Malaysia and Indonesia is suffering from a loss in tourism as a result of the Bali bombing, SARS and the recent Tsunami disaster. The unemployment rate is very high and one of the results is that tourists are constantly being approached by the local hawkers to buy their Balinese products and services.

"Excuse me. You wanna buy a watch- a sarong- a carving...?"

"Good price. Cheap."

"Okay. Okay. Come lookee inside."

One soon gets accustomed to dealing with the hawkers and accepts the fact they are just trying to make a living.


Sanur Beach resort

After lots of R and R (Rest and Relaxation) in Lovina we traveled inland to the town of Ubud where many artists and craftsmen live and have set up shops to sell the products of their special skills. Besides shopping for a handmade wooden carving from their unique Balinese wood we just relaxed at our resort beside the fresh and salt-water swimming pools.

We had planned to spend our remaining six days in Amed but after settling in our beachside resort we soon discovered this was not a good decision. The descriptions of the beaches and snorkeling in the promotional material on Amed are not very accurate. We hoped to go snorkeling to see lots of beautiful corals and exotic creatures in the sea garden at Jemeluk and at the wreck of the 110-meter USS Liberty but both were big disappointments.

We decided to depart Amed and spend the remaining four days in Bali at Sanur Beach and to visit Kuta and Denpasar. This turned out to be a wise decision because the white sandy beaches were cleaner and much quieter. I had to visit Kuta to see the site of the Bali bombing and to visit the monument to pay my respects to all those who lost their lives as a result of the bombing. I also wanted to experience first-hand the reputation Kuta has for its "hustle and bustle". The white sandy beach at Sanur and the snorkeling at reefs off Lembongan Island allowed us to leave Bali with a feeling that Bali is a "must-see" place for everyone to visit. My dream to spend my vacation in Bali was fulfilled and I am already yearning to return to this beautiful lush island-one of the choice spots to go for people all over the world.

Vocabulary
apparel 装饰
interior 内部的
endemic 地方性的
hawker 小贩
invertebrate 无脊椎动物
sarong 马来群岛土人所穿围裙

"银祥杯"《我的健康生活》双语征文比赛开始了!
″Yinxiang″ Cup CT Third Bilingual Writing Competition

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征文题目(Topic)
中文组Chinese Essay: 我的健康生活(字数: 600-800)
英文组English Essay: My healthy life (字数: 400-600)

●截稿日期(Deadline):2005年6月10日(June 10)
●稿件要求: 参赛文章务必以电子版本或打印文稿寄出. 详情请参阅www.common-talk.com,可直接网上投稿. (Essays can be sent to Common Talk by email or mail.)
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