Island of Gods

                       

Our last evening in Bali is here... So soon but yet the first places we've visited already seem so far away!

After soaking up the sun for our first 2 weeks in the south of Bali, we headed inlands to soak up some culture in Ubud. Much more lush and green and with rice fields to marvel at instead of beaches. Also the trashy tourist stores had made room for local art galleries, jewelery stores and lots of mindful living food, coffee and clothing stores. A Vancouver-minded place in the middle of the jungle in Bali! What more could Tessa want? :) The vibe of the town is very mellow and friendly and we could spent days drinking ice coffees, reading and strolling the pretty streets. It has crossed my mind several times to come back here one day and stay for a little while to do some yoga and try meditation... the true 'Eat, Pray Love' experience! Which is - as you might have already guessed - mainly filmed in and around Ubud. And I'm not alone: tons of women visit this place to find some peace of mind and hopefully some 'Love'. Besides the amazing rice fields and rice terraces, the area also has a lot of Hindu and Buddhist temples. The best one is the monkey forest sanctuary, a very peaceful temple complex in the middle of the forest disturbed by a huge cheeky monkey colony! Tom and I could be watching them for hours, playing, fleeing, chasing, and fighting each other and playing games with whatever they can find or grab! We also tried to feed our brains some culture by watching a traditional Balinese dance, which was very pretty but maybe not really our thing. What we enjoyed a lot more, was hiking to the summit of the Gunung Batur volcano (1717m)! The best part of it was that we started with only the moon and torch to guide us so we could watch the sun come up from the top! It was such an amazing experience being on the summit of the volcano, surrounded by clouds and the upcoming sun from behind the largest and holiest volcano of Bali on the other side!

And at last, after dreaming about it for so long, we went to the Gili Islands in Lombok! It is the island fantasy come true: white sand, turquoise water, palm trees, sunsets, coral reefs, bamboo bungalows, cute beach side restaurants (warungs) and no motorized traffic! All with the soundtrack of crashing waves and Bob Marley coming out of every single speaker or guitar. And nothing else to worry about than where to strategically position yourself for the sunset, preferably with an ice cold Bintang in hand - or if we were on the other side, with a torch in hand to find our way back through the pitch black maze of paths. We hopped all the three of the Gili islands: Trawangan, Meno and Air and stayed the longest on Gili Meno - the most quiet of them. Our days were filled with reading, swimming, tanning, snorkeling and eating :). Especially the snorkeling was truly amazing! We saw lots of coloured fish, funky coral formations and we swam with a few large sea turtles!! As I'd been wishing, I could celebrate my first tropical birthday on Gili Air! Tom really pampered me with a traditional massage, cruising around on bikes, ice coffee on the beach and an amazing dinner at my favourite and "more expensive" restaurant on the beach.
On the way back we decided to take the slow boat (6hrs) instead of the fast speedboat (1hr), which made for a interesting trip from which we were happy to return safely since it wouldn't be the first time that a ferry has sank in Indonesia's oceans. After 12 days of ultimate relaxation and seclusion it was pretty hectic to return the the outside world full with loud cars, motorbikes and vendors and drivers yelling for your attention.. but it's all part of the experience I guess.

So now we are back in lovely Ubud and tomorrow we'll hop on the plane to Kuala Lumpur to experience more adventures and move closer towards our end destination Hong Kong. Sad to leave Bali since it's such an amazing island with so many nice people, colours, traditions and the most beautiful scenery but I am pretty certain that I'll come back one day for more!

Bali... Beaches, Bintangs and Bikes

                                 

After a long flight we arrived 10 days ago in hot, loud and especially very busy Kuta in Bali. The moment we stepped foot into the overwhelming humidity we got attacked with "taxi, taxi!?", "transport!", "where are you going?", "you need hotel?" After we managed to get out of that, everything was smooth sailing!
The first thing that struck me was the smell of Asia, the same smell that was still in my memories from my last visit 3.5 years ago, the sweet smell of rice and incense.

Kuta is the Asian version of let's say Florida or the Mediterranean coast: lots of tourists shops, restaurants, loud bars and (for Asian terms) a lot of bare skin a.k.a trashy Ozzies and Brazilians. Since it was our first stop we didn't realize this as much until we actually visited much nicer places. Such as the more trendy area Seminyak with the most amazing lounge bars on the beach from where you can enjoy the sunset - every single day at 6pm sharp - from your comfy seat with a cold Bintang (local beer) in hand. That's the good life!
Unfortunately we also had a bit of not so good life when we got it in our head that we could drive the busy streets of Kuta on a motorbike... which ended up in a scraped knee on the asphalt :(.

The day after we decided to go south to trade Kuta's trashy beach for the absolute opposite; the secluded beaches with rocks and coral and bright blue water and - yes you've guessed it - white sand of Padang Padang Beach! And the best of all: not a single soul that tries to sell you bracelets/sarongs/fruit/massages/whatever! Because after a day enjoying ourselves on the beach, we wanted to see some more of the area and especially more of the 'real' Bali, we braved to go on a motorbike again. This time very slow and very careful and we made it to the Ulu Watu temple in one piece! Perched on a high cliff above the wild ocean and full with mischievous monkeys that are trying to steal every single item that is not attached to you! We finished the day in the village, sitting on a bench at one of the bars on the cliffs, watching the surfers with a Bintang in hand :).

Up next was Nusa Lembongan, an island 1.5 hrs away from the main island. We spent our days relaxing at our amazing accommodation with ocean views, eating good local food, exploring the different beaches on the island and driving around the rural parts. A lot more traditional than what we had seen before and a good way to see how the Balinese strive on other industries than tourism, like harvesting seaweed! It's fascinating to see the devotion to the Hindu religion, in the form of a sanctuary and temples in every garden and the little offering they make every single morning with a woven banana leaf filled with rice, flowers and incense. The highlight of our trip to Nusa Lembongan was when, after a long hot walk, we stumbled upon a secluded and empty beach! All that white sand, transparent blue water and shade under the palm trees for only the two of us to enjoy! And it was the first day that my leg was healed enough to go swimming again! Just perfect :)