Au Naturel Hot Springs

Eric and I had an interesting little roadtrip yesterday. We decided to drive 2 hours north to check out the cabin we have reserved for the Nelson reunion in August. Midway, we decided to stop at some natural hot springs. Turns out, those hot springs were a little more "natural" than we bargained for. After hiking our way up to the hot springs (maybe 15-20 mins), Eric and I were both a little winded when suddenly we spotted them - yes, the hot springs, but also 2 old, round, bare bums. Luckily, we were still a good distance away. There was a group of 8 or so people, most of which, graciously had swimsuits on, but for some reason, it's always the older, chubbier men who have no reservations about these things. They quickly gave us a friendly greeting, and we tried to play it cool and respond with a nice hello and wave while keeping our eyes on the trail. Unfortunately, these hot springs were on the "to do" list for a late night family reunion adventure. Good thing we checked them out beforehand because, as it turns out, they're not so family-friendly. I would rather our year for planning the reunion not be memorable in that way.

By the way, don't worry, I didn't snap any creepy pictures of the senior skinny dippers. I did take a few of the beautiful scenery nearby, however...

Mile Marker 4

Eric likes to dress for his surroundings

Hiking our way up to the hot springs

Here we are at the top of the 3rd level hot pool.

A fox we spotted in Tamarack.

Some nudity, some wildlife, and some beautiful scenery. 2 outta 3 aint bad.

New Year's Day

We got to celebrate New Year's Day at the Hot Springs in Sweet. It felt sooo nice. Hard to get out actually.

Day 5

I love this shot! As soon as I saw this, I knew it was too good to pass up. I had our driver pull over, and I pushed Eric out the door to steal away this priceless Kodak moment. Eric did me proud. As for the pig, our driver compared him to pizza delivery in America (poor guy).

Here we are at a natural hot spring surrounded by rice terraces. If you look closely, you can see the men in the water below Eric. They kept saying, "America! Bathe with us!"

Buffalo

Rice Terraces

Pura Ulun Danu - Bedugul Temple on Lake Beratan

Buddhist Temple, right by Bedugul (Hindu), and there's also a mosque nearby.

Eric found a nocturnal friend.

Iguana!

They said this was a mongoose, but I couldn't tell you for sure. All I know is that, whatever he was, he had an accident on Eric, and that made me laugh. Then I laughed some more when Eric told me the story about trying to clean his shirt in the bathroom. Apparently, some places in Bali charge you to use the restroom. As soon as he walked in, there was a bathroom attendant (an enviable job) who politely asked, "Pooh or pee?" The former, of course, is more expensive.

I'm not positive, but I think this is lake Tamblingan and Lake Bunyan (one of which is just outside of the shot, to the right)

Gitgit waterfall & Eric swimming.

Isn't he handsome? And look at those "muscles" (be sure to pronouce the "c" like our driver did)