A Balinese Interlude

After a week in Hong Kong, Rosa had to return back to work and Paul and I were ready for some proper Balinese zen. We flew together back to Rosa's humble abode, a huge two-room villa with communal pool in the heart of Seminyak.

 

 

After a two-day mooch around involving a wander around the motorbike-congested streets and an afternoon at the beach, made dirty by the gyre that pushes the region's pollution onto the beach, we let Rosa get working and made our way to the south of the island.

Technically, we were in Uluwatu but more specifically we housed ourselves near Bingin Beach and stayed at the fabulous Boho Bingin Beach Hotel.

 

We withstood the ten-minute walk to the beach, passing a small village of houses and places to do yoga. It was heavenly.

At high tide, the beach was entirely hidden away:

 

 

 And at low tide, the sea swept out to reveal a stunning series of tide pools:

And a beach that would take a while to walk out to:

The sunset would be enough of a reason to spend a few days here. After carefully curating at least 40 pictures of it, I've chosen these as my favourites:

  

 

 

Our five days in Bali felt a bit too short to really commune with the best it had to offer. I'm keen to go back--to get more yoga in, to feel the zen, to be amongst the array of temples--but Paul wasn't entirely convinced. The traffic and pollution really put him off. So maybe that'll be my next solo trip; a week of yoga followed by a week of temple watching? Okay, you twisted my arm.

Canggu Beach, Bali

Our final stop in Bali took us to Pineapple House, a yoga and surf retreat recommended by one of my Dulwich colleagues. The house boasted an unconventional retreat: not mandated times to go to various classes but a bevy of options of both yoga and surfing classes to take at points throughout the day. Yoga classes take place next door at the beautiful Desa Seni; you go when you want to, as often as you want. Whilst off-schedule, one had the luxury to sit in the living room, dip in the pool, have a massage or wander into town, a haven for vegan delicacies, and hang out on the beach.

Canggu Beach town itself is a drive away but a ten-minute walk away yields a little parade of cafes, restaurants and design shops that make for a perfectly pleasant wander.

And if that gets a little boring (which, for me, it did not), the beach in a further 15-minute walk. We made for the entrance through La Laguna, a beach bar and restaurant that was perfectly boho:

And the beach beyond did not disappoint. Apparently August is off-season for this little slice of paradise. The beautiful people confined themselves to the beach clubs and so we wandered, stopped for a Bintang whilst sitting in a beanbag and watching the sunset. 

On Rosa's last day, we made our way to Batu Bolong beach, just up the coast. I watched Rosa catch her final waves as I sat and sunned myself.

I stumbled on some surfer-favourite haunts such as Old Man's, a bar and restaurants serving the good people of greater Canggu for several years now.

We eventually made the slow way home, wandering a couple of kilometres up the beach and back to our accommodation. One of the temples on the way was celebrating some kind of ceremony and everyone there was kitted out in white. There was a lot of waiting around before the kids got restless and started running the beach. We never did find out what was going on but it was great to see a community come together in such a peaceful way for something they had a mutual belief for.

Rosa left early the next morning to return to Hanoi and work. I would join her in two day's time but in the meantime, I had more yoga and beach time to take advantage of. It would be my last beach as an Asian resident and I took that to heart. I still felt like I hadn't seen enough that Bali had to offer but the feeling only gave me more reason to plan another trip back. 

Ubud, Bali

What better place to end the summer of a lifetime than in Bali? Another one of those mythical places in my mind, Bali seemed to me somewhere you go if you want an absolute slice of zen beachy heaven. In a way this was a correct assumption and in a way it wasn't at all. 

Let's start with some assumption-busting realities: 

1. The Quiet: Everyone, EVERYONE, knows about this island and they come here by the droves. Perhaps few of these tourists know much about the country as a whole. So...Bali is one of 17,508 islands of the Indonesian archipelago, a region of the world affected by earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis, all thanks to its location on the Ring of Fire. It's the 12th largest of the islands with a majority religion of Balinese Hinduism, making it a religious minority in this part of the world. 
2. The Zen: Motorbike is the main mode of transport on this large volcanic island. Roads can be iffy and traffic is mental. Crossing a small chunk of the island can take hours depending on the time of day. 
3. The Beaches: Depending on what time of year you go and where you go, beaches range from rocky to clean and quiet to absolute carnage. But Bali is particularly susceptible to ocean currents that push all that oceanic plastic that people pretend doesn't exist right onto the shores of beaches across the south coast. 

And still. It's easy to understand why so many people arrive here and stay put, some for a lifetime. Our first stop on the great Balinese tour took us to the town of Ubud, lying inland and north of the airport, a two-hour drive in traffic. The journey winds its way through rice paddies and ancient temples by the hundreds.

Upon arrival in Ubud proper, we made our way to a fairly inexpensive hotel. Our room, complete with French doors to access the pool, made us quickly forget the stress of the drive there:

Ubud's big draw with tourists is its trade in yoga. Iconic venues like Yoga Barn (with their showy acroyogis practising in the communal space) offer a plethora of daily classes and retreats that keen zen seekers come to find. Less famous places were more my cup of tea and Rosa and I made our way to classes under thatched yoga shalas at various points around the town. Classes were cheap, plentiful and really good; the world's yoga teachers seem to take up residency here at some point or another in their careers.

Between yoga time and pool time, we hopped around the streets of Ubud, a town that effectively caters to its tourist trade. Veggie and vegan fare reigns supreme and shops touting silver, batik, tshirts fill the streets. It'd be easy to get overwhelmed but it was also easy to love. Along the way, temples and shrines dedicated to various gods serve as reminders to the culture and religion.

Temples welcomed members of the public, as long as those going in were modestly and appropriately dressed. We never seemed to quite be this--between beach wear, yoga wear and skinny strapped shirts, we opted to look on from the outside and admire the often-terrifying carvings. 

Entry-way to a shrine:

Bali's other notable resident, the monkey, also seemed to make their presence known. Our hotel was only a short walk away from Monkey Forest, a place where no snack food is safe. Considering my Thailand monkey experience, I opted to stay far, far away from this place.

We only had three full days in Ubud and that didn't quite feel like enough. The more famous temples at Tanah Lot and Besakih beckoned, as did more yoga. But another part of the island was calling and so we bid a sad farewell to Ubud and made our way to the beach at Canggu on the southwest coast. I'll be back though, it's one of those feelings this place gives you.