At the completion of the Green Camp, we were met by our driver (arranged courtesy of our generous Indonesian relatives) and taken back to “our villa” in the town of Seminyak, outside of Denpasar. This villa is owned by one of the relatives and she kindly said we could use it while staying in Bali. Clay’s parents, sister & husband had been staying there while we were at the Green Camp.

Walking into the villa was incredible. The main floor is built around a swimming pool, with natural rocks and greenery jutting out from the edges. There are two bedrooms on the main floor – where Clay and the boys would be staying. The eating area was built into the floor – Japanese style. The second floor had two more bedrooms and a very large sitting area. The rooftop had another sitting area and also looked down onto the pool. There are many times on this trip that people have told the boys how lucky they are, and the boys look at them as if to say, “I don’t always feel that lucky!” but we all knew how lucky we were to be staying here!

I was very excited about the Green Camp in Bali. In fact, it was the Green Camp around which I initially built our world trip itinerary. They only offer the camp on certain days of the year and I really wanted to make sure we were able to attend, so I booked the camp several months before our trip began.

I first came across the Green School a few years ago, when researching a variety of alternative schools. At that point they had not yet quite begun construction but they had the plans in place and a site picked out. Over the years I have watched (online) as the school has grown from its initial 40 students to over 400. Green School has won an award for being “The greenest school on earth”. The structures are built entirely from bamboo and sustainable resources, and students learn about eco-friendly practices throughout their day-to-day routines. The school is an international school, with its own curriculum, and is comprised of students from a variety of nations. Many families have made the decision to move to Bali so their children can attend the Green School, as opposed to the situation at other International Schools, where the families are posted there for work opportunities.

The Green Camp came about when families would visit Bali, hear about the school, and want a similar experience for their children; but they were unable to move there. The camp allows families to come and have a taste of the Green School experience but it runs as a separate entity from it – with its own buildings and accommodation, adjacent to the Green School.

Traffic in Bali is no better than in Jakarta, so it took us over an hour to get to the Green Camp from the Denpasar airport. We were already arriving late, due to the timing of our flight, and I was wishing that I’d planned for us to arrive the day before, as I hate showing up late for anything!

After traveling out into the country side, past several rice fields, we headed down a small laneway where there was a sign pointing to “Green School”. It was looking a little more rustic than I had expected, but as you know I don’t mind rustic!

We pulled into the rut-filled dirt parking lot beside a hand painted sign that read “Green Camp”. We were met by a camp guide who showed us to our “cabin”. It was constructed of bamboo with a high ceiling so the heat could escape, similar to the design of a yurt. There were 3 sets of bunk beds in the cabin and a bamboo shelf. We proceeded to unpack and then met our guide for our introduction to Green Camp. He explained the grounds and how to use the compost toilets. Having traveled for 3 months, with a variety of toilet styles, having to use one toilet for pee and another one for “the other” followed by a sprinkling of saw dust, did not phase us!

Just as our orientation talk came to an end the other campers returned from their hike and we had a chance to meet the families with whom we would be spending the weekend. There were 6 families in total, and 19 people. We were pleasantly surprised to find another family from Canada at the camp. Not only were they from Canada – but from Oakville as well! And the dad is a teacher doing a sabbatical year, the same as us! The two boys were each a year younger than ours. It was great to share stories and plans. Perhaps we’ll even cross paths again!

The first night concluded with a family campfire. The camp counselors played games with everyone and ended the campfire with marshmallow roasting. I was getting a good feeling about this camp!

Unfortunately, Clay had put out his back the day before we arrived at the camp and it was really starting to bother him, to the point that he could barely walk, and getting up and down was a chore. He made it down to the dining area for breakfast the next day but decided he’d better rest his back while we set out for the day’s activities.

Our first activity was to take a 30 minute bus ride to a local Balinese village. We were met at the village by one of the locals who took us to his home. He explained to us the design that homes in Bali follow. It was really interesting. When you walk through the front gates into the “home” you will see several buildings. He compared to the design of the home to the parts of the body. Each home has a temple, which is situated at the north-east (or north-west if north-east is not possible). The senior members of the family (e.g. grandparents) have a room/home along the north. The younger generation have a room/home on the west. There is a separate room or home for the kitchen. And each home has a main, central open room with a bed for celebrations and special occasions. Any pets, cows, pigs, etc are on the west side behind the houses.

After the Balinese home visit, we walked past some incredibly large Banyan trees, and into some rice fields. Our guide explained the Balinese “subak” (irrigation) system – how the farmers get holy water to put on the rice fields and how they cooperate to irrigate the fields.

Next was the family egg drop competition. Each family was given an egg and 5 minutes to find natural materials off the ground and create something that would prevent the egg from breaking when thrown from a tree top. Connor spotted a Jack Fruit and we were able to dig out a section, put our egg in, and then fill the hole with leaves. Fortunately, when the jack fruit was thrown by our guide, from the top of the nearby tree, despite rolling for several feet into a ditch, it managed to survive unscathed!

We continued on through another rice field and down an embankment, until we arrived at a river where we enjoyed a picnic lunch and a chance to body surf down the river in the current.

After lunch it was time to return to Green Camp where we had a 5 minute washroom break and met at the yoga studio for our introduction to “laughing yoga”. It was an excellent session and I can now say that I’ve found my favourite kind of yoga! Our instructor had the most infectious laugh and the boys thought it was hilarious! We learned how to laugh in a variety of ways: child laugh, young man laugh, old man laugh. And nicely intermingled between the laughter were a variety of yoga moves.

As soon as the yoga wrapped up, we had to head to the common area for natural dye making. Here the guides explained why and how natural dyes are made, and they set up stations so that the families could make their own dyes and use them to paint designs on cloth bags.

There was no time for a break – it was on to the Balinese martial art of Mepantigan, or mud wrestling. We returned to the yoga studio to learn the different moves that are used, and the corresponding calls. Then it was off to the mud wrestling pit! A large vat is filled with mud and everyone steps in. The leaders call out the directions and everyone follows along. Soon people are being flipped into the mud, here there and everywhere! Our boys decided to stick to the observation deck, along with Clay and I. We already spent a week getting the mud out of our bathing suits after our last mud bath experience!

The day is still not over! For dinner, we  make our own pizzas and have them cooked in a wood fire often.

Next, it was time for the night safari. We all bring our flashlights and head out for a walk around the campus to see what interesting creatures we can find. Our guides point out a toad, which secretes a poisonous liquid when touched. They hold it up for us to see and a white liquid comes flying toward us. Apparently it won’t make us too sick but it will kill a snake if it eats the toad. We then find two pit vipers, and fortunately they stay in the tree at least a couple feet from our path! We also come across a couple of lizards and a gold backed snake. Not bad for our first night safari!

Day two is just as jam-packed. After breakfast we learn about the plants in the garden at the camp. All of the food that is served comes from the garden. We go on a scavenger hunt to find as many leaves as we can in the gardens and bring them back. Some are easy, such as chili pepper, and pineapple but we struggle to find cinnamon and Thai basil.

After leaf identification we have a lesson on compost making. Everyone is taken down to the cow barn where we mix up leaves and cow manure to make some compost. This is followed by a visit to the green house where some lettuce seedlings have been growing and we take them back up so the kids can plant them in the garden.

After our Balinese lunch on the ground, on banana leaves (called Megibung) we begin the family Egg Slide Challenge. Each family is given some bamboo stakes, 4 banana tree stalks, and some elastic and we must try to create the tallest slide to roll an egg down without breaking it. We were doing really well with our design until the banana stalks started to sag and the whole thing collapsed!

Next it was back to the kitchen to learn all about chocolate. We had a brief lesson on the history of chocolate and we each took part in making our own chocolate sauce. Some people had to roast the beans, others peeled them, at another station you had to crush them and sift them. Our efforts were rewarded with some delicious chocolate sauce that we poured over ice cream!

It was time to say goodbye to our new friends. What an incredible experience. We all learned so much and had an enjoyable time doing so. I would definitely recommend Green Camp – to those who enjoy a rustic experience that brings you closer to Mother Earth.

We arrived in Indonesia aboard an AirEgypt A330 Airbus with all of 12 other passengers. Each of us could have had our own section and multiple seats to ourselves if we wished. I wanted to run up and down the aisles but the flight attendants gave me this warning look of “I dare you to make trouble because I’ve really wanted to try those take-down moves that security taught me” so I thought better of it.

Once we collected our luggage and passed through customs we spotted Dad who greeted us with a big smile. It was nice to see family after two months of traveling! Mom joined us from another gate and we were introduced to several cousins who had come along as well. We all piled into their two vehicles and they dropped us off at the Grand Tropic Hotel and Suites, a place that would be much more convenient for us to congregate and from which to launch our daily excursions. Compared to some of the accommodations we had been living in, this seemed like we had been dropped into the lap of luxury.

The next day it was our job to go back to the airport to pick up Jen and Feroz. We arrived at the airport a little later than their scheduled arrival time and they arrived a little earlier than that so we kind of did this Laurel & Hardy routine of “just missing each other”. Thanks to Jen’s resourcefulness she managed to contact me on my new Indo mobile number and we were soon on our way back to the suite. That evening we met with a good chunk of the Indo family at this fancy fish restaurant. We really don’t know what it was called but “fancy fish restaurant” means there was this massive 3D fish structure on the top of it advertising their main dish. And what a dish it was! They fried the fish and presented it in such a way that went beyond cooking and into the realm of artwork. We also had every manner of other seafood piled on the table and it was a sort of “tapas-style” where you helped yourself to a little bit of everything.

Our stay in Jakarta was short (4 days) and much of it was spent meeting up with the Indo side of the family for lunch or dinner or sometimes both and when they weren’t at work and finding interesting spots for the eight of us. One spot was called The Pandora Experience. Barb may have written earlier about us going to Escape Hunt in Bangkok where we were locked in a room and had to solve a mystery following various clues. The Pandora Experience was similar but much more intense because it had a Jack the Ripper theme to this particular episode. It also had multiple rooms on many levels that required us to climb, crawl, and duck in and out of in order to solve the complex riddles to escape. We’ve even thought about starting one up when we get back to Canada as the idea of devising clues and riddles has piqued the boys’ interest. Obviously I can’t show any pictures from the adventure as no cameras are allowed (not even mobile phones) so the adventure stays fresh and new for others but here’s a photo of us outside the facility which is basically a black, iron door. Yes, it looks sketchy but it’s really a bona fide business.

The next stop on our world tour was Jakarta, Indonesia. Clay’s dad was born and grew up in Indonesia and we were very excited that he, Clay’s mom, Clay’s sister and her husband, would all be meeting us there. Clay’s dad has been back to Indonesia a few times and has visited his cousins and relatives who still live in Jakarta, but Clay hasn’t been there since he was 8. We planned to stay 4 full days, 5 nights in Jakarta. It wasn’t long, but when we had originally planned to come the relatives had said we could stay with them and we didn’t want to overstay our welcome.

As it turned out, four days was perfect! We were greeted at the airport by Clay’s parents. Our flight was delayed 3 hours, so it was already late by the time we arrived. The traffic in Jakarta is TERRIBLE so it took a while to get to our hotel from the airport. As it turned out, the relatives decided it would be best if we could all stay together (rather than a few of us at each of their homes) so they put us up at a beautiful hotel suite, complete with kitchen and pool. They had also arranged for us to have a driver and vehicle during the time we were there. Wow! We were spoiled!

When we pulled into our hotel at 10 p.m. we were greeted by a group of Indonesian relatives. Several of them spoke no English but they were incredibly kind and friendly. They had purchased us SIM cards for our phones, brought us groceries to put in our kitchen, arranged for us to have breakfast buffet at the hotel restaurant, and offered to do our laundry for us if we had any. Oh my goodness! We were a little overwhelmed! We weren’t sure whether we were coming across as grateful enough or even what was the culturally appropriate way to show our gratitude. The boys, on the other hand, were exhausted, and found it all a little too much – with their cousins so eager to learn about them while they were just wanting to sleep! I tucked them into bed in their room and hoped the relatives would understand. Finally, at close to midnight everyone left and we headed to bed.

The next day, Clay’s parents had a family event to attend and we were tasked with the job of going to the airport to get Clay’s sister and brother-in-law, since they were scheduled to arrive on a flight just after lunch. This was not too difficult since we had a driver and vehicle! Although the driver only spoke a little English we were used to communicating with lots of hand gestures!

I had been told that being fair skinned and blue eyed, I might stand out a little in Indonesia but I figured that since Jakarta is one of the most heavily populated cities in the world there must be a lot of fair blue eyed foreigners by now! I also knew that Indonesia was predominantly Muslim (which is why the boys came running into our room the first night at 4:30 a.m. wondering what the noise was – the call to prayers). What I didn’t realize, however, is that for some reason, even though I could walk around in the malls of Indonesia and blend in quite fine, the airport was quite a different story.

Clay and I arrived at the airport and since there were two different gates from which his sister could exit, we split up. Connor and I went to one side and he and Caleb went to the other. As I walked in to the waiting area, the 100 or so women squatting on the floor, waiting for family members to arrive, all turned to look at me. They were covered from head to toe in their Muslim attire. I, on the other hand, had not thought through my airport outfit very carefully and was wearing a skort (above the knee!!) and a tank top (without sleeves). Clearly this was not the norm! Children were pointing and people kept staring. A couple of people came up and asked if they could get their photo taken with Connor and I. I did my best to use Connor as camouflage – putting him in front of me to cover my bare knees but I don’t think it did much good! Of course, we couldn’t find Clay’s sister and brother and law for well over a very long hour!!!

The relatives had organized a family reunion to coincide with our visit to Jakarta. It was planned for Wednesday, so we were asked to keep that day open. After picking up Clay’s sister and husband at the airport though, Clay’s parents informed us that we had all been invited to dinner by a few of the cousins so they could meet us. So off we went to a local restaurant to meet “a few” cousins. When we arrived there were about 8 tables put together end to end and we were welcomed by 29 relatives! They ordered the food for all of us and we enjoyed an incredible meal of fish that had been fried into a fan shape (Gurami?), coconut juice, rice, sate, and much more. There was so much food!

During the course of our four days in Jakarta, we commented over and over again at just how kind the relatives were. They showed us what true hospitality is. Each day, even after they had worked all day, they would invite us out for dinner. They brought us groceries, arranged for us to see the sights, and checked in with us to see if there was anything else we needed. We got to meet the entire extended family at the family reunion (about 100 people) and were treated as though we were the royal family on tour!

By the end of four days we, and the boys especially, were exhausted by the late nights and busy days. It was time to head to Bali for the Green School Family Camp experience.

Our apartment was in the centre of Bangkok, on a small street, with a delicious outdoor curry restaurant across the street, our morning Pao stop around the corner (pao is a chinese bun stuffed with different meats), and a local market covering about ½ a city block adjacent to us. It was the perfect location, with the subway about 2 km walk away – not too bad in the heat! You didn’t have to travel far, however, to experience the whole different world of the malls of Bangkok! They seem to take their malls very seriously. There are local malls, where you find reasonably priced items in stalls, similar to a market and then there are, what we called, the “expat malls” which are very similar to the malls we have in Ontario. Here, the prices are similar to home, if not slightly more expensive. The malls, rather than stretching out, seem to soar up and up, some of them with more than 15 floors! And it seems that they try to group stores together by theme so you have the clothing floor, and then the camera shop floor, etc. After the “expat malls” we found there were even more upscale malls for what we could only assume were the wealthy. One mall was based on the theme of an airport and each floor was a different destination. You could travel to San Francisco, complete with the Golden Gate Bridge stretching across the centre! There was a London floor with shops inside a double decker bus.

We, of course, were not interested in shopping – our two duffels are already full and we don’t plan to add another! Nor are the boys big shopping fans! However, we found that some of the attractions we were interested in were located inside these malls. One attraction we decided to give a try was “Escape Hunt”. You may have heard of escape games before, but we had never tried anything like it. The four of us were “locked” inside a room and given an hour to try to solve a crime. There were clues hidden around the room and often the clues led to a secret code that would help you to unlock another room. Once you reached the final room and figured out the solution to who committed the crime, you received a key to unlock the door so you could escape from the room. It was great fun! The boys were a little nervous at first because creepy music played the whole time, and a big clock was counting down on the wall, but once we got the hang of it, we were so busy solving puzzles, that we forgot to be scared! We made it out in 61 minutes (which officially meant we didn’t solve it in time – but they said it was close enough!). You can find Escape Hunt games in several countries, and there are other companies similar to it as well.

Another activity we decided to try while in Bangkok, was Kidzania. This is another company you can find in various countries, but there are none in Canada and we decided this was the best place to give it a try. Kidzania took up the whole floor of one of the malls and it was enormous. It is a city for kids, with all of the stores and buildings built to 2/3 of the regular size. The kids are given a cheque for $5 Kidzo when they enter the city. They must begin by cashing the cheque at the bank. Adults are not permitted to enter any of the buildings because the whole idea is that the kids learn how to do things independently. The boys were a bit hesitant at first, especially since it was all so foreign to them but they soon got on board! You could choose a few       activities for which you would spend your Kidzos, or you could get a job and earn more Kidzos. The boys decided they should find a job and collect as many Kidzos as possible. Their first job was at a Honda dealership. They had to design cars. They were given uniforms to wear, shown how to use the car design software, and 10 minutes later, they came out with their own car designs and 10 more Kidzos. Next they were off to become doctors. They had to remove someone’s liver, which they both found a little disgusting and they decided that perhaps becoming a doctor was not for them! We ended up spending the whole day at Kidzania, with the boys trying a variety of careers: interior designers, secret agents, cell phone repair workers, journalists, and much more. Caleb used a few Kidzos to scale a city wall and they combined their Kidzos at the end to purchase a light up ball. I loved the concept. What a great way to expose kids to a variety of careers.

With two bags in tow once again, it was off to our apartment in Bangkok. And by now we had the system down pat: we had directions to the apartment, a phone number and SIM card to call, if necessary, as well as the downloaded map so we could follow the route the driver took – just in case. I had booked this apartment on airbnb as well. I never say much to the rest of the family about what our accommodations might look like because we have learned that it’s best not to have our expectations too high! Our hope is always that the place is clean & safe. Anything beyond that is icing on the cake! This apartment was supposed to have a pool, which we had found to be a huge help in the extreme heat and humidity of Thailand.

As we drove to the apartment, Caleb would point to a few run-down, grotty looking places, and say, “I’m hoping ours is just a little nicer than that, but we’ve managed in places like that before.” I was quite pleased that both boys were beginning to appreciate the privilege of staying in “nicer” places. We have had our share of pretty run-down spots, although I have to say that so far we have managed to fulfill the “safe” qualification for each of them. We have never felt that we were in an unsafe area. We always lock up one of our bags with any valuables, whenever we leave the room, but only has a precaution.

Our taxi started to make its way down a narrow street with several food stalls set up down each side. “We must be getting close,” said Connor. We passed a couple of very nice apartment complexes. “I don’t think we’ll be staying in one of those!” remarked Caleb. “They look really nice!” And then we pulled in……Here we were at our building and it was beautiful. There was a gate with a friendly security guard, a glassed-in foyer at the front of the building, a quiet reading area when you entered, a roof top pool, and we were greeted by a friendly Romanian woman who took us up to our apartment and explained everything we needed to know about the local area.

The apartment was very tiny – but we’re used to tiny! There was a bed, a pullout couch at the end of it, and a very small kitchenette area. It was spotlessly clean and we had the most amazing view of the roof top pool from our window. The boys were thrilled and so was I. Another airbnb winner!!

Our apartment had only been available for 4 nights so I had booked it for that. From the reading I had done a lot of people suggested not staying very long in Bangkok because it was such a busy, crowded city and time was better spent elsewhere. I’m not sure if it was because we had already spent a fair amount of time in extremely crowded places in China, or if it was because we were in such a central location, or maybe just because it was such a change from the places we’d recently visited, but we really enjoyed Bangkok. The people were so friendly, the public transit was easy to navigate, and you could escape the heat in a variety of air conditioned buildings. While there, people kept suggesting we visit the “Old Town” but we used our 4 days just to do some fun things with the boys. It was less about learning about the history of Bangkok and more about doing some neat things that we couldn’t do at home.

After checking out the local markets, figuring out the subway system, and getting a few groceries, we walked to the Bangkok Snake Farm at the Red Cross Institute, beside the hospital. I was interested in visiting this, since they showed you how snake venom is extracted for the use of anti-venom serum. The anti-venom serum is used in hospitals across Thailand. At the snake farm there is an area where you can see many of Thailand’s different venomous and non venomous snakes and there is also a theatre where they do a demonstration of venom extraction. It was very interesting, although somewhat difficult to understand. Fortunately the man spoke both Thai and English, however, he spoke so quickly and with such a strong accent that it was a real challenge to decipher him! There was also an exhibit hall which had been designed to educate the public about snakes. I thought it was extremely well done. We watched a couple of videos about the kinds of snakes, learned what happens if the venom gets into your system (not for the faint of heart!), the anatomy of a snake, snake reproduction, and so much more. A very educational stop. Highly recommend.  

After 4 wonderful, relaxing days enjoying the sun and surf at our villa south of Hua Hin, Thailand, it was time to board the train once again and head back to Bangkok. To lighten our load to the villa, we had left one of our bags (we carry 2 roller duffel bags) at what appeared to be a rather questionable luggage storage area in the train station in Bangkok. They call it the “Left Luggage” area and you pay a small fee for each day/hour you leave your bag. The young man behind the counter didn’t say a word to us but merely handed us a ticket. As we walked away we wondered if our bag would still be there, sitting in the middle of the floor, in exactly the same spot, when we returned a few days later.

“Do you think he’ll move it?” we asked ourselves. “Should we have moved it into a corner, out of the way?” Clay wondered.

We kept glancing back and decided it was best to go back and put our worries to rest! “Should I move the bag out of the way?” Clay asked the rather unkempt gent behind the desk. “No, is OK,” he reassured us. So, off we had walked, still quite uncertain as to whether we would have a bag at all when we returned. “What if someone comes in and takes ours?” asked Caleb – the greatest worrier of the four of us. “Then we lose the bag,” I replied. “There is nothing of huge value in there.” And off we walked……hoping for the best.

This has been a common theme running through our travels thus far: trust. When you are traveling in another country where you are unfamiliar with the customs, language, locations, etc there are many times you have to trust others. It is always a fine balance between doing your research, asking around, and then just praying that things will work out as you hope. So far, I must say we’ve been extremely fortunate. Our luggage was still there when we returned to the “left luggage” room. It had even been moved out of the way!” And on so many other occasions things have worked out for us as well. Often, it is thanks to the kindness of strangers. When we were in Laos, walking the 2 km from our guest house to town, in the baking sun, two women pulled up in a shiny new white car with leather interior (a rather stark contrast to us in our well-worn, sweat stained travel clothes!) and they stopped and asked, in broken English, if they could give us a lift somewhere. They very kindly took us to the end of our road (about 1 1/2 km), for which we were incredibly grateful. Perhaps traveling with children has helped, because people see the two boys and they feel more comfortable approaching us, but I have to say that my faith in humanity has been restored several times over! On many occasions we would not have been able to arrive at our destination, were it not for some kind soul taking pity on us! (This is not to say that we have not been approached by people trying to scam us, but we try to read up on the ‘common scams’ in the area so we can be aware of them.)

After three days, two nights in the jungle we returned to Awana Guest House in Chiang Mai for the second time. They greeted us like family! By this point we have been traveling for two months and I think we’re starting to settle into more of a routine. I am big on routine because without it I feel that we too easily stray from our goals. I will write more that later!

Following a quick bite to eat, it was off to the dentist. When you are traveling for a year it is different from just going somewhere for a short vacation.We must take into account all of the not-so-exciting things which need to be done as well: haircuts, dentist visits, laundry, school work, grocery shopping, etc. Of course, some of these are a bit more of an adventure when you’re trying to accomplish them in an unfamiliar place!

I had read that the quality of dentists was excellent in Thailand (Chiang Mai) and that they are very reasonably priced, so we thought it was best to get a cleaning done while we were here.

The boys were a bit apprehensive, but then again they are when we’re going to the dentist at home as well! Caleb’s biggest fear was that the dentist would find a cavity and suddenly pull out a big needle to work on it! I assured him that we were only getting a cleaning this visit (and prayed that the dentist didn’t find anything major!).

Caleb went in first (I thought this was best since he gets the most nervous!) and sat in the chair. I went in with him to help keep him calm and to check and see what the dentist was doing. The room was spotlessly clean and was quite similar to what we would experience at home. The dentist did the cleaning himself, while his assistant just handed him tools as he needed them.

Fortunately none of us seemed to have any cavities and within a couple of hours we were on our way again. One dentist visit accomplished!