I haven't written in a long time. Too long. I haven't been myself for a long time. Way too long.
After many dark months, after many lessons learned, I was surely in need of...light.
An escape was never more welcome.
I hear people going to India to find them-self. I went to Bali.
This is a blog with facts, more for myself to remember where, when, what, how...so I'll leave my creative side apart and release my German side.
Facts: flight costed around 1200 euro, with one stop in Bangkok. We took the tickets very late so it was surely not the best offer.
Big picture: we stayed 3 nights in Bangkok, time to visit the town (mainly the temples) and spend a day at the beach in Thailand and another 10 nights in Bali.
Bali is a province of Indonesia, probably the most touristic one in the country. The island itself is full of temples. In fact, many houses have very specific gates, that can be considered little temples.
Quite specific for Bali is the religion: while the rest of Indonesia is dominated by Muslim, in Bali, around 84% of population adhered to Balinese Hinduism.
If I would be asked what I appreciated more in Bali, I would say: people, temples, traditions, kindness.
Even though it's a touristic place, you don't feel like locals are trying to get money from you. You don't feel robbed (as opposite to Bangkok).
As mentioned before, we decided quickly on the destination and there was no time to plan it individually. We also wanted to visit the whole island, not to stay in one place. I read that traffic is bad and there is a complete chaos on the streets. No rules. All you need is good luck.
Considering the above, a package including accommodation in more villages/towns and 8-9 hours/day car with local driver was the choice. And it turned out to be a very good choice.
The driver picked us up from the airport and took us to Sanur area. First impressions were really positive.
The villages are absolutely charming. Each house has massive wooden gates, with traditional sculptures. I noticed in front of each house people leaving flowers, food, etc in small pots. They do this every day and they pray. I still have the unusually charming, powerful picture in my mind.
We booked the package from www.tribalitour.com. They were really nice and flexible. Basically, they proposed a package including accommodation, car with driver and things to visit daily and we adjusted it not only on paper but also daily. Basically, the driver was very kind and took us where we wanted to go.
We saw a Barong Dance, Celuk Village, Tenganan Village and Goa Lawah Temple in the first day. It was almost impossible to know about them and to get to see them in one day without a guide.
In addition, our guide was very kind to provide info about the island, people, traditions.
Accommodations were in Lovina, Sanur, Ubud, Kuta and one more that I don't remember.
Activities for the next days:
- Besakih Temple
- Kintamani
- Beji Temple
- Buddha Temple
- Banjar Hot Spring
- Gingit Waterfall
- Ulun Danu Temple
- Candikuning Fruit Market
- Taman Ayun Temple
- Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest
- Mas Village and Ubud painting
- Tanah Lot Temple
- Batuan Traditional House
One day, the wake up call was very early, in order to leave with a boat at 5-6 am and see the dolphins. We saw dolphins, too, but for me the nicest part was the sunrise.
Day eight was booked for Mount Batur trekking and Spa. The driver picked us around 3 am and after one hour drive, we arrived at the starting point for trekking Mount Batur. Our guide for the mountain was again very nice, welcomed us into his house and offered a tea.
It was 4:00 am, you could not see a thing and anyway the roads in the forest were not marked. No way we could have done it alone. The guide provided flashlights to us and we began trekking. After 2 hrs we were on the top of the mountain. It was a bit raining, but we still got to see the magnificent sunrise.
We had eggs cooked directly in the volcano's heat as breakfast.
The walk on the edge of the volcano and the view simply made me feel so alive. On our way back, a big group of monkeys were playing on the edge of the crater. The guide told us that they can be aggressive and that a couple of years ago, a tourist upset them and the monkeys made like a team work and threw him into the volcano's crater.
Anyways, I was not aware that in the forest there were deadly snakes. We saw one in Ubud. Some people were screaming at us to be careful. We were walking around and this very green snake was in a tree we passed by.
I don't wanna exaggerate...Bali is a safe place. We are both alive.
Bali is also a good place to take massages. Depending where you go...an hour of massage is between 5-10 euro in the villages, up to 100 euro in a more expensive hotel.
From all places we've been, I did not like Kuta area. It's like Mamaia for Romanians. Crowded, noisy, touristic, bleah.
Go to Bali for culture, for people, for temples, for beautiful landscapes. Go to Bali for fantastic ricefields.
Beaches and not so great. They are there; you take advantage of them. But don't go to Bali for the beaches.
On my birthday I got to see the Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of Emerald Buddha). It's the most famous one in Bangkok. Crowed, but it's worth a visit.
Monks live in the temples, they wake up around 4:00 am, pray and follow the Buddhist traditions. You can see them on the streets, dressed in saffron orange robes. It was quite an unusual fantastic view for me.
Their daily ritual is part of the Buddhist philosophy of giving and making merit to attain a better life beyond this one. I guess we all have something to learn, don't we?
Other temples in Bangkok that we saw are: Wat Pho, Wat Arun, etc. It was hot like hell; and after many temples all we wanted was to sit down, have a cocktail, enjoy a massage. And so we did.
Because I wanted a damn beach before returning home, we went to Pattaya and from there we took a boat to Koh Larn Island. I gotta say it was not a good choice.
Pattaya is awfully crowded, I felt like I could not breathe. I've been warned, what can I say. From the boat, I could see that Koh Larn Island is not bad. The bad thing is that the damn people did not want to leave us where we wanted, but in a very very crowded place.
To conclude...Bali was a really really nice experience. I am also well aware that I've seen almost nothing from Thailand and that I will return. That's a promise.
And promises are to be kept!
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