Reminiscing about Bali

My summer may have officially begun by spending 24 hours in Chicago. In reality, however, it was in Bali. Bali of Indonesia – this is my 17th country and the 10th with my parents. When our Germany plans fell through due to time commitments and difficulties of me acquiring a Visa whilst in the middle of a busy Champaign semester - picturesque and relaxing Indonesia emerged as the best alternative.

Over the last few months, I researched and looked at different ways of exploring the island and its adjoining, dotted pearls. The more I looked at pictures, read articles, and watched vloggers - the more amazed I became – Bali seemed an island of substantial experiences and diverse ways to restart my international travel dreams.

Bali derived from Bebali, means offering or land of offerings. From the minute I landed to the very end of my trip Bali and its people display exactly that. As we stepped out of the airport, our driver greeted us with garlands and water, saying “Om Swastiastu,” their version of a Namaste – it means may God always bless you. We were welcomed with the very saying at our hotel in Seminyak. People were courteous and helpful leading to a safe and comfortable feeling throughout our time interacting with locals and during our time on the island as a whole.

Life's a Beach:

Bali’s numerous beach clubs located on its Southern and Eastern coasts are flocked with tourists. Regions such as Nusa Dua (known for luxury and expensive resorts), Seminyak, and Canguu are known for their nightlife and sundowners. Traveling up and down Bali’s Eastern coast, I visited numerous beach clubs during my four days in the area. Each club had its unique charm and signature

colorful, tropical drinks however what stood out was each day’s different sunset that peered through the clouds and over the Bali Sea.

Sunset from KUDETA

What further stood out was how different and varied each beach club’s seating set up was - bean bags to lounge chairs, adding to their generic tables with waiters running around bringing food, drinks, and lighting people’s cigars or Shisha pots.

The island is not solely about the beach and nightlife, culture and religion are the true pride of the Balinese people. The 3 words that first come to mind when I think about Bali are: Beaches (as aforementioned), Nature, and Temples. The coastline is laden with beautiful beaches blasting music and foreigners having a great time, while the interiors are filled with vegetation and temples. Each home has its temple with the Hindu majority taking religion and festivals very seriously. Each village or town also has 3 temples representing the Trimurti – 3 Hindu Gods – Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer.

During our stay in Seminyak, we spent the evenings in the beach clubs, however, the days were spent traveling to the interior of Bali, exploring temples, lakes, and a particularly rapid river.

As we traveled to Bedugul Temple located on the shore of Lake Beratan, our driver cum guide, Wiwik taught us a lot about Balinese culture and religion. He explained how there are 2 main festivals in Bali – Galungan and Nyepi. Bali's people draw a lot from the Yin and Yang, while staying true to their Hindu roots and belief that good will persevere over evil. We spoke at length about the effects of Covid-19 on Bali, something I would see have lingering effects on the Gili Islands in the Lombok region of Indonesia. Covid had forced Bali’s closure leaving the locals who primarily work in the tourism industry to revert to agriculture and farming. Some even moved into construction and infrastructure building which was Bali’s secondary focus before the influx of tourism.

Bedugul Temple

A 'Special' Delicacy:

I would be seriously remiss if I did not mention a particular Indonesian speciality that I experienced. Coffee Luwak, what makes it unique is that it is created from the feces of a civet cat. The animal eats and digests coffee cherries and ferment them in its stomach. While yes, this is kinda of rancid, it was something I was adamant on trying. The coffee isn't the best but, it is something adventurous which I did not want to miss out on. The best way to describe the coffee is smooth with an earthy flavor. I did not care for it all that much and would not recommend as it a coffee to drink for pleasure. My consensus is that it is worth the try for something indigenous to Bali and Indonesia.

Coffee Tasting

Going with the Flow:

On our final day in Seminyak, we headed to the center of the island and went river rafting. This was the most adventurous part of our trip and one we all enjoyed together as a family. Even my mom who barely rowed and doesn't swim had a great time!

It was like something out of The Jungle Book – sailing down the river with vine covered rugged cliffs and rainforest vegetation on either side. Throughout the 2 hours we were on the river I was mesmerized by how scenic and vibrant everything around me was. It was as if I was inside a children’s book, constantly amazed by how immersive the experience was. Unfortunately, due to the rapids, I was unable to capture the best of the surroundings. The rapids, although only a level 2 or 3, were exceptionally frequent and forced us to be ‘on our toes’ for all of the journey.

The best experience throughout this endeavor was jumping into the river which at certain spots is very shallow wherein a 5’3 individual like myself was comfortably able to stand on the riverbed. I drenched myself in a waterfall flowing down the tall cliffs and swam about in the pleasant water. At one juncture, we took a break along the bank and cracked open a Bintang (Indonesian beer, similar to Heineken) before carrying on. The further downstream we got, the more lodges we saw within the trees where presumably many tourists stayed.

Trickling Through the Jungle

As I said, the rapids weren’t challenging and for the majority of the journey, the river carried us with it. Probably the most tiring part was climbing down to the river from the hills above and back up again – there were rocky man-made steps with broken disjointed railings connecting us for what was easily a 10-minute steep walk to and from the river. That evening we went to another beach club, as was the trend by the name of Mari Beach Club. It was my favorite club during my time on the island and the reason was their seating options and the view it presented.

The club had 2-3 options the bar was one which we did not divulge. Instead, we chose to sit away from the pool and coast it overlooked - opting for a more interior yet sunny area where we ate an early dinner feasting on some of the best sushi on the island. As the time for the sunset grew closer, we moved to the lounge beds and chairs, seated just before the black sand beach. The beach was crowded yet peaceful as people pleasantly strolled along the shore while dogs playfully ran into the water giving any onlookers a stark contrast in behaviors and emotions that could be switched simply by tilting one’s head. As the sun lowered towards the waves, the waves would ascend due to the unseen corals and meet the glowing remnants of the day.

That was the first 3 days of my trip, for the next portion I traveled to the Gili Islands, a 3-island archipelago in the Lombok Region of Indonesia. There will be a separate article regarding Gili and how they have been affected by Covid-19, particularly in its aftermath.

Befriending Curious Companions:

Following the Gili adventure, we came back to the Bali mainland and stayed in the interior of Ubud. Ubud is known for its handicrafts, paddy fields, and temples throughout its city center. However, we did not participate in the cultural immersion as much as I had liked and not as much as I had typically experienced in other destinations across the globe. Ubud was the final part of our trip, my dad wanted it to be relaxing and carefree and there needn’t be any running around or adventurous activities as far as he was concerned.

For me, however, that could never have been the case, yes, I was limited in my cultural and adventurer exposure (relatively speaking) but, Ubud was a fun location opportune for great excursions. On our second day in Ubud, we journeyed a mere 5 minutes from our villa to the Monkey Forest. To provide you with a fair assessment and an idea, the forest has been affected by the human stamp. There are a lot of tourists walking about across manmade bridges and elevated points to get a glimpse of the monkeys. The good part however, is how well the monkeys are treated and their abundance. They seemed to be very well assimilated with humans in their territory and it was a very friendly, lively experience that one can have being able to hold and feed them.

My New Friend

Spending time in the forest was extremely enjoyable due to how up close with the monkeys I was able to get – great for Insta snaps too! The thick and dense nature of the forest at certain spots allowed one to forgot about how commercial it truly was. Those were probably my favorite parts of the forest since I would sit on a bench and watch the monkeys go about their business. Some would cuddle, some would fight, some would jump around. There was a pair who hilariously attempted to open a coconut, they even had the 'genius' idea to wrap it in some leaves and bang it on the floor but, to no avail.

Ubud’s evenings were spent similarly to those of Seminyak’s the only differences were the lack of a beach and the addition of mosquitoes. While the mosquitoes were annoying, they seemed to have an exclusive buzzing period from 6 pm – 7 pm. This allowed us to enjoy drinks on the outdoor deck of our hotel watching the sunset before moving indoors for dinner. One of the popular spirits in Bali is Arak, made from aniseeds and grapes, it tastes like a light rum. I did not care for the drink all that much, but I guess it would be something that requires an acquired taste.

The Journey to the Top of the World:

That night I trekked to the top of Mount Batur, an active volcano. This was the most exciting and memorable part of my trip, although snorkeling with turtles in Gili Meno does give it some competition. Mount Batur is known for spectacular sunrise views as it overlooking a lake created from an eruption and the clouds sink to meet onlookers at the top of the mountain. It has erupted 20 times in the past two centuries.

My parents who preferred to take their foot off the gas during this stage of our trip were never planning on accompanying me. Wiwik and I (Wiwik is the guide who was with us in Seminyak and continued showing us around Ubud as well) left at 2 am and drove an hour to reach the base of Bali's most active volcano. There we met up with a guide and 2 British women who were going to be making the climb with us.

The journey began at 3 am when it was pitch dark, all of us had mini flashlights and you could see a line of lights to the peak. Initially, the path was straightforward as there were some manmade roads and trails for us to walk on. However, the higher we climbed the road became steeper and the rocks looser. The trek to the top took us just under 2 hours and was not too tiring, the challenge solely lay in ensuring that one’s footing was firm. The lack of light proved to be the key hazard in deciphering whether a rock was stable or not. As we reached 3/4th of the way, we could see an orange tinge peek through the mountains in the distance. That was a signal for us to move faster. One of the Britishers walking with us had an issue and told us to carry on so that we didn’t miss the sunrise however we all unanimously decided that we were a group and have made it so far, that we could surely make the climb in time. By the time we made it to the top, the sun had began playing peek a boo and we could not have found a better spot. Sitting on a bench that overlooked Lake Batur and an adjacent village, we drank some coffee and ate two slices of bread. The clouds were below us hiding pockets of the tiny village but leaving the lake relatively unbothered. The mountain behind the lake had 2 rings of clouds one at their peaks and the other closer towards its centre.

Sunrise from Mt. Batur

After looking at the sun light up the world around us or rather beneath, we paid a visit to the caldera and marveled at the steam coming out of it. The caldera was lush and green, something I did not expect. I was not expecting lava and fire but, I did not think that the peak of an active volcano would look like a mini grove. As we walked into the crater a waft of heat took us by surprise. Everyone almost paused to catch ourselves and after eventually settling we took some more pictures and prepared for the journey back.

The path downhill was astronomically different from that of the climb to the peak. It was dirt roads and very easy to walk on. While, there was no need to use our hands or be overly cautious, as was the case on the journey to the top. My knees and ankles were painfully feeling the effects of the day. This had me questioning why we did not use that path in the first place (something I foolishly forgot to ask both Wiwik and our mountain guide). The rest of the day was spent resting and shopping before we enjoyed one final drink on the wooden deck watching the sunset. Reminiscing about the trip which started without the most exciting mindset.

Bali blew my expectations completely out of the water. From climbing volcanos, and exploring temples, to battling rapids and playing with monkeys Bali had it all. The tropical paradise lived up to the hype and then some! The perfect blend of culture, leisure, and adventure – opportunities endless and up for anyone’s imagination.

Ubud and Seminyak were great, they had a mixture of multiple elements that I look for in a great travel destination. Gili though, was a different world altogether both above and below the surface. Articles I read about Gili and its post covid reality are of a stark contrast. An island chain shaped by tourism owes it to its underwater vistas and on shore energy. Gili deserves its own attention and people curious need to know about its present reality, and how a solely tourism dependent island has come out of a pandemic.

Mount Batur's Caldera