Let’s play word association. I say “Aspen”, you say….skiing, mountains, celebrities. I say “Italy”, you say….food, romance, art. I say “Bali”, you say…..well? Before arriving, I would have said beaches, beauty, bliss. Now that I’ve been here a week, I can often be found with that quizzical look on my face that says, “This is Bali?”. Is there something wrong with me? Can’t I see the tropical paradise that is Bali through the traffic, piles of rubble, garbage, poverty and corruption? I know that I easily see beauty in many forms, and that I am quicker to point out the positive side of most anything before seeing the negatives. But so far….the images I had in my mind are not matching the reality here. I will have 4-7 weeks to change that.
I arrived in Denpassar’s Ngurah Rai International Airport and stood in a line for 2 hours to get through customs. This gave me the opportunity to get friendly with my line neighbors. There was a bunch of Australian college girls on a weekend trip that were poking fun of the man who conspicuously kept moving up a few people at a time and cutting the line, and were complaining endlessly about the wait. They were loud, having fun, and laughing. An older gentleman was behind them and thought to offer his wisdom and advice. He said, “Relax. You’re in Bali. Go with it. Be grateful to be here. Respect Bali and it’s people. Be kind. That is how you will most enjoy Bali.” I thought that was sound advice, and although the length of wait time was a bit irritating, I was truly feeling relaxed, happy to be here, and open to the slow pace of Bali’s culture.
Bali is 70 miles long and 95 miles wide, and is 8 degrees south of the equator. It has 2 seasons – Rainy and Summer. It is ALWAYS hot and humid, with temps mostly in the mid-80’s, but there is usually a nice breeze coming off the water if you are waterside. Over 4 million people live here in Bali, and over 80% are Hindu, with the rest being a combo of Muslim or Christian. It is a huge tourist magnet, especially for Australians, and it is CHEAP. That’s why so many expats settle here – they can live the life they dream of. It is also filled with motor scooters, which is the preferred way of travel for most of the people here, as cars are expensive. My jaw hit the ground when I spotted families of 3 or 4 casually siting sideways on a speeding death bike…I mean motor scooter, weaving through traffic. The scooters and cars are constantly beeping at each other, either to say..”hey, I’m behind you but about to pass you.” or “hey, you beeped at me I’m beeping back”. I don’t know what effectiveness the beeping has, I just know it’s constant. I also noticed, as I drove along the streets, that the landscape is filled with…construction materials. Stone, rubble, wood piles, rubble, and some rubble. Actually, it is rare to see a so-called “landscape” during my travels from Nusa Dua to Gianyan and then Sanur. There is also a tropical lushness everywhere that happens to be really beautiful.
I started off at the Novotel in Nusa Dua, having read that this prime real estate is the upscale resort area in Bali with beautiful beaches. I had booked 2 nights here ($80/night, 4-star hotel including breakfast and a massage) and planned to figure out my travels around this island from there. The hotel was fine, it’s just that I’m not a resort person. Resorts are the hotel designer’s idea of vacationing, and they can be exquisite, but my heart and mind always want to travel outside of my hotel and see the real area that I’m in. So after getting a good night’s sleep, I walked out the front door of the hotel ready to explore. Two steps to the left, and I quickly turned around and headed back in to the information desk.
“I’d like to walk and see Nusa Dua. Where should I go?”
“You want to go shopping?”
“Well…I want to walk and see whatever Nusa Dua has to offer”
“Shopping? You want to go to Bali Collection?”
“Ok…I guess so….which way?”
“The bus comes every hour”
“But I want to walk…is it far?”
“You want to…walk? Walk? Umm…the bus is free.”
“Yes, that’s ok, but I’d rather get out and walk”
“Ok Miss,” she said, clearly judging my American ignorance, ” It’s just to the left, about 3km.”
I could do that. That’s a good walk. Off I went, down the broken sidewalks dotted with huge gaping holes that often caused me to carefully step out into the whizzing motor scooter/car raceway on the street. I passed many tiny shack-style shops, all selling touristy sarongs and items. I passed tens of massage places, their employees sitting on the front steps calling out to me, “Miss, you whan massage?” I passed a few hotel entrances, all underwhelming. After walking about 3 km, I was nowhere. I stopped at a hotel guard gate an asked where Bali Collection was. “You want me to get you a taxi?” No, I want to walk…how far is it? “About 5km down the road”…sigh…clearly I could not rely on anyone’s answers as far as distance. So I flagged down a taxi, hopped in, and took off for Bali Collection. And that’s it. Well yeah, because once I got there, I asked the driver to turn around and take me back to the Novotel.
Dinner that night was as cheesy as it gets. Outside at the hotel’s beach restaurant, I was shown to the buffet whose offerings included satay, rice, and nonenticing other stuff. I got to hear the music of 4 Balinese men with 2 guitars and a bongo drum singing Maroon 5. Adam Levine is lucky to have missed this. I wished I was as lucky.
I had found my next destination on airbnb, and was moving on, gratefully. Villa Puri Purnama is a lovely beachside villa on the Gianyar coast, north of Sanur. I knew I might be isolating myself staying here, and the owner, Paula, was honest with me about that. But she offered me a great deal for a night to see if I liked it. $59 for a Master Suite including breakfast. The property has a gorgeous pool and grounds and literally sits on the black volcanic sand beach It really is beautiful. It is well maintained and the staff are all Balinese and lovely, smiling, hard-working and gentle people. Needless to say, one night turned into 6. Lunch and Dinner was ordered off a menu each day and I was charged less than $5/lunch and $6/dinner. I don’t think I ever finished the food on my plate – huge portions. I also had a mani/pedi and one-hour full body massage at the villa – total price $27. I said $27. I know I’m stuck on calling out the prices here but just making a point that spending the money I have in the past on these very necessary treatments feels so wasteful now. I know, it’s all relative. Just makes me think.
Entrance (from the inside) of Villa Puri Purnama
Beautiful Villa Puri Purnama.
Gorgeous landscaped property.
Stunning pool with the beach just beyond…
My view most days…
Unless I wandered inside…
Black volcanic ash beach. Very cool to look at, and VERY hot to walk on in the sun.
Just a couple of steps away…
My room with french doors…huge!
Not too shabby…
The night I arrived was a celebration for a Chinese family that had booked the Villa for a Balinese Blessing Ceremony, which is like a vow renewal ceremony. I watched from the balcony as the bride and groom and their 3 kids and parents, all dressed in Balinese traditional costumes, were blessed by a Hindu Priest and given offerings from the village and renewed their vows. It was such a treat! We all then enjoyed a special dinner and Balinese specialty of Babi Guling, roast suckling pig.
So I can’t say I did much here for my 6 days other than turn my body from one side to the other to toast evenly. And dip into the 86 degree pool every hour to try to cool down a bit. Paula and her husband had left for a 5-day trip to Java, so I was on my own except for the Chinese family. I did hire a driver to take me to see Tanah Lot – an ancient Balinese Temple built on a cliff over the ocean on the southeast coast of Bali. It was swarming with tourists and tourist shops that you have to walk through in order to get to the temple. Once I reached it, I was surrounded immediately by heaps of Muslim students on a field trip with surveys that they had to complete for school. I agreed to take allow them to ask me the questions – it was a way for them to practice their English. They were really adorable. Honestly there were hundreds of these students so you can imagine how many asked me to be interviewed and the amount I waved off until I finally agreed. So getting an affirmative response from me was like landing the big fish! They all of a sudden got nervous and pulled in their friends to do the talking.
Very adorable group of students interviewed me for their school assignment.
So after that, I proceeded to the temple where there is a touristy “Holy Water” area where the Hindu priests will sprinkle you with the water that is dripping down through the cracks in the temple and press sticky rice onto your forehead as if it’s Ash Wednesday. I accepted the ritual only to have water and rice run down my face into my eyes and cause my glasses to fall off. As I start to walk away wiping my eyes and catching my falling sunglasses, all the priests at once said “Donation!” Oh! Yes, of course! Why else would I get holy water and sticky rice pasted on me if not to give money!! Clink, clink. Overall, underwhelming.
Entrance to Tanah Lot
Here it is…couldn’t go up and inside..didn’t know that.
Holy water shrine…
Did I say I wasn’t a resort person? Well…obviously I can be swayed…just has to be the right resort!! After leaving Villa Puri Purnama I booked 2 nights at the totally cool Komune Beach Resort on the famous Keramas beach, a surfer’s paradise. It was 5 minutes from the Villa, but it could easily have been in Miami. The design of this resort is a totally laid back, cool vibe on a gorgeous property, lush with winding paths, pool beds to lounge on all day, an awesome bar/restaurant for all meals, snacks or drinks, and even an outdoor screening area where they show movies at night. By day I was happy lounging at the pool, and by night I was equally happy to sit at the bar facing the ocean and watch some night surfing – there is a huge floodlight that lights up the ocean. 
The bridge from the hotel to the beach club
From the bridge, the pool can be seen to the left in the distance
The restaurant and screening area are on the right.
Pool beds…perfect snooze spot.
Sun going down
The bridge to the beach club/restaurant
Same bridge but night view
Did I mention the fire pit?
Watching night surfing from the bar
Perfect perch.
The path back to my room
Just before I left this area, I was invited to join Paula and a big group of friends at a birthday celebration in Sanur, held at Casablanca. It was my first night out with people after being in Bali for a week, and I finally felt like I was doing something the locals do at a local place. Very fun night, great band – would love to see them again!
This is Marianna doing some crazy burning drink for her birthday.
And cake of course!
I should definitely have a headache in the morning…
Next stop…Ubud!!
Toured Home 
I hope you like Ubud better!
Did I mention 6″ of snow? You are so lucky not to be here!
hmmm how about 12 inches!
snow day today!!!!!!
wow! pictures clearly tell a story…
bali seems underwhelming but anxious to see if you change your mind…….
xxxxx
Ditto what Jaryn said!